Mission Impossible: The Cherry Blossom Bride
by Aurora Ciel
Summary: There's a new leader in Sound now that Sasuke has killed Orochimaru. He's Konoha's greatest enemy and its greatest threat. Unless he gets what he wants, he's starting a war with Konoha. And what he wants is Sakura. [SasuSaku main] [NaruHina]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I think we've established this with my past **11 **disclaimers.

**A/N: **Hey everyone! So, I'm back with another story- this time sticking with the real Naruto plot (meaning it's not AU… it's just… um… U). I was going to continue An Unexpected Gift, but I was getting bored with the AU stuff and wanted to write some ninja stuff.

**Summary: **There's a new leader in Sound now that Sasuke has killed Orochimaru. He's Konoha's greatest enemy and its greatest threat. Unless he gets what he wants, he's starting a war with Konoha. And what he wants is Sakura. SasuSaku, NaruHina

**Inner Self**

_Thinking_

* * *

**Mission Impossible: The Cherry Blossom Bride**

**.:Chapter.One:.**

"Sakura-chan! Look out!" Nineteen year old Haruno Sakura did as she was told, seeing three shuriken shooting in her direction. The pink-haired Jounin threw three kunai, each propelling the shuriken in different directions.

Sakura looked over to her two former teammates, who were working with her on this mission to get some scrolls from the Sound Village. Things had gone perfectly, until they were ambushed on their way home. Uzumaki Naruto and his clones were running about, jumping off trees, flinging kunai and shuriken everywhere. They seemed to be doing alright, the real Naruto was slightly more bruised than his clones and his shoulder was bleeding a lot, but other than that, he was going to be okay.

And then there was Sakura's other teammate. Uchiha Sasuke had returned to Konoha after killing both that bastard Orochimaru and his brother Itachi just two years ago, when they were all seventeen. Sasuke's sharingan had been activated and he seemed to be fending off alright. His nose was bleeding and there was a gash in his stomach, but he would be like Naruto, absolutely fine.

Sakura looked down at herself, both of her feet and her left forearm were bleeding pretty badly. The right leg of her black cargo pants was ripped off to the knee and Sakura could feel the bruises forming on her face. Other than that, she seemed to be pretty fine as well.

Until, someone kicked the back of her head, causing the apple green eyed kunoichi to fall to the ground, face first. She'd been so caught up in checking on her teammates, that she hadn't even noticed a ninja's chakra behind her! And the fact that she was exhausted didn't help.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, immediately forgetting the unconscious body he'd been beating on since there was no one else to fight with. Sasuke turned around quickly, seeing Sakura laying on the ground, a ninja hidden in the shadows standing behind her with a katana raised.

_Better end this quick, _Sasuke told himself. He drew his chakra-fused fist back and slammed it against the Sound ninja's head. The man's head hit the tree behind him quickly, if it didn't kill him, he'd be unconscious for a long time.

Sakura moaned, slowly trying to get to her feet, but the throbbing pain in her head and arm would only let her get up so she was on her hands and knees. She stared down at the ground, seeing blood drip from her mouth and nose.

"Stupid girl," the large man behind her muttered. Sakura's heart beat faster and faster, she knew she should move to get away, but she found that her body wasn't cooperating. All she could do was slowly raise up her head, her weary gaze going right to Sasuke, who was glaring at the man behind her. Sakura knew that Naruto and Sasuke were already formulating plans in their heads.

"That's enough, Goro," a voice from Sakura's right said. Naruto and Sasuke's heads immediately snapped in the voice's direction.

The man named Goro groaned, lowered his katana and took several steps back as the other man stepped out of the trees, followed by at least half a dozen men. Naruto and Sasuke each glared at the way this second man was looking at Sakura, who still was frozen.

The man knelt down next to Sakura, lifting her chin up with his forefinger. "Well well well, what do we have here? A fallen cherry blossom."

"Get away from her!" Naruto shouted, grabbing several kunai. Sasuke remained glaring, but now had several kunai in each hand also.

The man, who had long dark brown hair that was tied back in a low ponytail and deep brown eyes, turned towards the fox boy, snorting as he looked at the two former Team 7 males.

"Or what?" the man challenged. Naruto gritted his teeth, clenching the kunai harder. The man just laughed and squatted down next to Sakura again. "What's your name?" he asked, tucking some pink hairs behind the girl's ear.

Sakura didn't answer, she just kept staring at Sasuke, who wouldn't take his eyes off of the brown haired man. She felt her arms quiver, she knew that she couldn't hold up much longer, if they kept this up, she'd fall unconscious soon.

"Just who do you think you are?" Naruto shouted, stepping closer.

The ponytailed man kept his eyes on Sakura. "That doesn't matter. All you need to know is you shouldn't get in the way of the things I want." He leaned his head closer to Sakura's, but she just jerked her head in the other direction, so he ended up kissing her cheek. Sakura shuddered, Naruto's eyes flashed and he was shaking with rage, Sasuke glared, but otherwise remained impassive.

Sakura started scooting away from the man, but he just laughed and glanced over at his men and Goro, nodding his head in Sasuke and Naruto's direction. As Sasuke and Naruto took on a battle stance, Sakura started panicking. This meant that her only rescuers would have to focus on killing those other large men, and she was left to fend for herself from this man, who had a look of lust in his eyes.

Sakura began to crawl away, but tripped on a tree root, causing her to fall and land on her back. The brunette man smirked and slowly made his way over so he was on top of the medic nin, who was now aware of the fact that her red and white tank top (which has the same look as her dress from her genin days- red with white lining and a white circle on the back) was cut down the middle, revealing more of her chest than she would've liked. The man hungrily looked at Sakura, licking his lips and slowly lifting a hand to caress her cheek. He tugged off the forehead protector that served as a headband for Sakura. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the last kunai in her holster, stabbing the man's hand that was on the ground, and pinning him to the ground. Sakura rolled out of his grasp, looking around and seeing that Naruto and Sasuke had disappeared.

_Oh no! What now! _her mind screamed, as the men closed in on Sakura. Her hand instinctively went to her holster on her thigh, only to remember that she'd used her last on to pin that man to the ground. And said man was now pulling the kunai from his hand and was getting up.

Sakura pinched her eyes shut, but suddenly felt a strong arm around her waist. Sakura's eyes shot open as she felt herself be lifted quickly into the trees. Sakura turned around to find Sasuke holding her and Naruto worriedly smiling at her. Sasuke pulled his hand over Sakura's mouth and nodded at Naruto, who nodded at something behind the ninjas below the trio.

Suddenly, another Naruto appeared from behind a tree, pretending to be surprised that the ninjas had caught him. They all chased the fox boy clone in the opposite direction of Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

When they were gone, Sasuke removed his hand, still holding Sakura up. "S-scrolls…?" Sakura managed to whisper, still wiping blood from her nose and mouth.

Naruto smiled and held up the three scrolls, then putting them back in a pouch on his waist. Sakura smiled and tried to stand on her own, only to nearly fall from the tree they were hiding in. Sasuke grabbed the girl and held her at the waist, when he suddenly felt something on his shoulder. He looked down to see the pink-haired kunoichi unconscious on his shoulder. Sasuke sighed and picked her up bridal style, then nodded to Naruto, meaning they should get going.

Suddenly they heard a noise, discovering the ninjas had realized the clone was a clone, and also a substitution. Clone Naruto burst into a log, and several curses were heard. The ponytailed man ran back into the clearing they'd just been in, searching the trees, but finding no one. He punched a tree, which crashed to the ground.

"Mark my words!" he shouted loudly, knowing the trio was still close enough to hear him, even if it was just the faintest sound. "I _will_ find you! I'll find her! And besides, I have this!" He lifted up Sakura's forehead protector, which had the hidden leaf symbol etched in the metal rectangle.

Sasuke looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms as he and his best friend (which he would never _ever_ admit) jumped from tree to tree, making their way back to the Hidden Leaf Village. He sighed as he saw blood still flowing from Sakura's nose and forearm. If they didn't get home soon, she could be in real trouble.

* * *

Naruto pushed past Konoha's large gates as Sasuke followed behind, Sakura still unconscious in his arms. Forgetting about the scrolls, the two nineteen year olds made their way towards the hospital as quickly as possible. Even though neither of them were very experienced in the medical field, they both knew that too much blood loss is deadly. Which is what they were afraid of. 

Naruto pushed the hospital doors open, holding one open for Sasuke to slip through. The pair ignored the stares they were getting and walked right up to the receptionist.

"Haruno-san," the quiet woman said, seeing the young girl in Sasuke's arms.

Naruto nodded. "She needs a hospital room. She's been out for several hours. We think she's lost a lot of blood."

The blonde woman nodded and called a team of medic nins. They took Sakura away in a stretcher, saying different words like "intravenous" and "transfusion." They were big words that scared Naruto. He bit his lip and looked to Sasuke for reassurance, who was being uncooperative as always and remained impassive about the whole situation- like it was an every day event that Sakura was sent to the hospital for reasons besides work.

Naruto scowled, then remembered the scrolls. He turned to Sasuke, patted the pouch, and the pair headed for the Hokage tower, but not before insisting that they be informed of Sakura's condition as soon as possible.

"You're late," was the first thing that came from Tsunade's red lips as soon as the two Jounin entered her office.

"What!" Naruto shouted, throwing his arms up, causing Tsunade to smirk and quirk a golden brow. "We were ambushed! I could've died and that's the first thing you say!" Sasuke scowled at the blonde who continued to rant about how his life was endangered and no one cared.

"…and then I got poison oak on my-"

"Do you have the scrolls?" Tsunade interrupted before she could hear the rest of Naruto's all-too graphic story.

"Of course," Naruto said in an 'You-gotta-be-kidding-me' tone. He pulled out the three scrolls and handed them to the Godaime. Tsunade smiled at the boys, ignoring the bored look on a certain raven haired one's face. She glanced from onyx eyes to azure ones to--

"Where's Sakura?" she asked. Her heart sped up as the boys both immediately stiffened and then avoided her gaze. "Don't make me ask you again!" Still no answer.

"Where is Sakura, damnit!" Naruto flinched and took a step back.

"When we were ambushed, there were some… issues…" Naruto whispered, staring at the floor.

"'Issues'?" Tsunade repeated, trying to comprehend.

"Hn."

"What kind of issues?"

"…"

"Uzumaki…"

"There was a man…"

"What!"

"Not like that," Sasuke said monotonously. "She was kicked in the back of the head. She couldn't move."

"And then this Ponytail Guy comes out of no where with his goons and starts hitting on Sakura-chan!"

"WHAT!"

"And then he sent his goons on us, so Sakura-chan had to fend for herself. Sasuke-teme and I got away, but Ponytail was on top of Sakura-chan. Sasuke-teme grabbed her right after she stabbed a kunai on his hand and pinned him to the ground- it was really cool! You should've seen-"

Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Oh, anyway, we sent one of my clones in the other direction and we got away! But Sakura-chan's been unconscious ever since."

Tsunade had her elbows on her desk, her hands clasped in front of her mouth as she listened intently, occasionally nodding. "That's it? So… that wasn't too bad. She'll be in the hospital for a while… but other wise, I'm sure Sakura will be alright-"

"He has her forehead protector. He said he'd find her and nothing gets in the way of what he wants," Sasuke said.

"**WHAT!**" Tsunade stood up so fast her chair fell over. Naruto hid behind Sasuke, who rolled his eyes. The blonde haired woman began to pace back and forth so fast the boys thought she was going to ware a hole into the floor. "This is bad. He knows what village she's from. And it's not like Sakura is a common person. He'll immediately recognize her. What did you say this man looked like?"

"Um… he looked like… a man?" (a/n: haha for anyone who watches Mad TV, this totally just reminded me of Ms. Swan.)

"Dark brown hair in a ponytail. Brown eyes. Pretty pale and about six feet tall," Sasuke said coolly, leaving the blonde beside him in shock.

"And he's from Sound… he travels with a group-" Tsunade gasped loudly. She grabbed a manila folder and searched through several papers, breathing heavily. She finally found what she was looking for.

"Is this him?" the Hokage asked, holding up a photo of a man walking down a street with several men. He obviously had no idea this picture was being taken.

"Aa."

Tsunade slumped down in her chair, her face in her hands as she shook her head.

"Who is he?" Naruto asked, getting worried about her reaction.

"His name is Ryuu. His specialty is a powerful dragon jutsu that no one has been able to copy- Sharingan or not. He and his group came into power just after Sasuke took care of Orochimaru. The good news- he always travels with a large group, which means he's easy to track. The bad news- he's deadlier than Orochimaru, and all of his men are about as strong as you boys, Nara Shikamaru, and Hyuuga Neji."

"Thank you for the introduction," a voice said in the doorway. Everyone's gaze turned to who the uninvited visitor was and gasped.

"Ponytail Man!" Naruto shouted, pointing an angry finger in his direction.

Ryuu- or Ponytail Man- smiled suavely as he strolled into the Godaime's office.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Naruto snapped. "You're not wanted here!"

Ryuu laughed in a disturbing way as he nodded in Tsunade's direction. "I think _she'll_ want to hear what I have to say," he said, looking the Godaime up and down, smirking.

Tsunade cleared her throat nervously, putting away Ryuu's file and sitting in her chair. "Boys, go check on… go get yourselves looked at. Let me know how _everyone_'s doing." The boys nodded in understanding of Tsunade's code. They pushed past the burly men in the doorway, giving Tsunade one last glance.

They didn't like what they saw. The Godaime looked like she was going to cry.

* * *

"G-gomen Uchiha-san," a nurse said as she turned even brighter red. Sakura giggled as she woke up to a shirtless Sasuke looking annoyed as a nurse treated his stomach. Naruto was eating a rice ball on the couch to the left of Sakura's hospital bed, laughing as well. 

"Riko," Sakura said laughing as Naruto looked at her, grinning. "I think Sasuke-kun will be fine."

"B-but, Haruno-san, I'm not finished-"

"I'm fine," Sasuke growled, nearly causing the nurse to fall over she was so afraid.

"Good to see you're awake, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he finished his rice ball. Sakura smiled at him and then Sasuke.

"I'm gonna go get a cup of water, I'll be right back," Naruto said, hopping off the couch and heading out the door.

Sakura noticed Sasuke wince as he got off the table he was sitting on. "Sasuke-kun," she said. The youngest Uchiha looked over at her. "Come here. You're not completely healed."

"I said I was fine," Sasuke insisted.

"That's just because you wanted that nurse to get away from you," Sakura said, knowing that _was_ Sasuke's true motive. Sasuke sighed and walked over towards Sakura.

"You really shouldn't be doing this-"

"I'm fine. I have enough chakra to finish healing your stomach." Sakura pressed her small hand on Sasuke's toned abs, a green light coming from her hand as she finished Riko's work.

When Sakura was done, she kept her hand on Sasuke's stomach, staring at where her hand was. "Sasuke-kun, arigatou."

"What?"

"You- you saved my life back there. Arigatou." Sasuke sat in the chair next to Sakura's bed, his hand resting on the bed and Sakura's falling on top of his. The two stared at their hands, neither sure of what to say. Sasuke wasn't sure of what he was feeling or what was controlling him to be so… open and comfortable with this girl. She was just another silly fangirl, wasn't she? Sakura knew she still had feelings for Sasuke, but she thought it was just an infatuation she'd get over. But infatuation grew to caring and caring grew to love.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered back.

"Doitashimashite." It was this moment that the two realized how close their faces were. Sakura blushed, but found that she couldn't break her eyes away from Sasuke's.

"Hey, did you guys know that they have instant ramen here! Oh… am I _interrupting_?" Sasuke and Sakura each pulled their hands away as Naruto burst through the door, ruining their… whatever that was.

_What the hell just happened there? _Sasuke wondered.

**Good Kami-sama! Was he just about to kiss us! **Inner Sakura shouted, hugging a heart-shaped pillow, pretending it was Sasuke. Sakura was about to laugh, when things got a little… _heated_ with Inner Sakura and the pillow- a.k.a. Sasuke.

_H-hey, what are you doing? _Sakura asked her inner self, who was busy making out with the pillow. Which instantly disappeared in a poof. _No more pillows for you._

"No," Sasuke snapped suddenly.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"No… you weren't interrupting… anything," Sasuke insisted, pulling his shirt on and standing as far away from Sakura as possible.

_What just happened to me? _he asked his mind.

He never got his answer.

"Tsunade-sama! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, sitting up slightly as her mentor entered the room.

Tsunade smiled weakly at her apprentice, her heart heavy. "How are you feeling, Sakura?"

Sakura frowned. Tsunade was acting strangely. Something was wrong. "I'm fine, thank you. What's wrong?"

Tsunade looked like she wanted to cry. She looked from Sakura to Naruto to Sasuke. The three former teammates were confused.

"You asked to see me here, Tsunade-sama…"

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"Dobe. She just said. Tsunade-sama wanted to see her."

"HEY! I'M NOT A DOBE- AAAH!" Naruto fell over as his former sensei appeared in the room suddenly with a poof.

"I got your message," Kakashi said. "I came here right away."

"You mean… you weren't late?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"She said it was urgent." Sakura gulped. Urgent? In _her_ hospital room? And… her closest friends were all here? Sakura gasped loudly, causing everyone in the room to look at her.

"Am I dying?" Sakura shouted as tears began to flow quickly.

"WHAT? SAKURA-CHAN'S DYING!" Naruto shouted, causing Sakura to sob even heavier.

"No, it's nothing like that!" Tsunade snapped, rubbing her temples and sitting on the couch.

Sakura stopped crying and sniffled. "I-It's not?"

Tsunade sighed, closing her eyes. "No."

"Oh, what a relief! I'm so happy!"

"You won't be." All eyes turned to Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama…?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Sakura… I'm so sorry." Said girl's green eyes widened.

"W-Why?"

Tsunade opened her eyes and looked up at everyone. "As most of you know, Ryuu of Sound is now one of the most powerful ninjas out there. He had an encounter with you three today. And now he came to meet me."

"Tsunade-sama… what's going on?" Sakura asked, her voice tiny with fear.

Tsunade's eyes began to tear up. "He says that he has some very powerful allies, and has been making clones of his bodyguards- you met them before." Naruto muttered incoherent things about said 'bodyguards'. "He says that if he doesn't get what he wants, he's going to start a war. Which is something we really don't want right now. Many ninja and ANBU are out on missions in other villages and countries. Konoha is very vulnerable right now. And… I have no choice. I have to give him what he wants."

"Tsunade-sama," Naruto asked carefully. "What does Ryuu want?"

Tsunade looked over at her apprentice. "He wants you, Sakura."

* * *

**A/N: **And so it begins! I have to say, I'm rather excited about this fic. I hope it's popular. Please let me know if anyone is OOC or anything. 

PLEASE REVIEW! My last fic got a whopping **160** reviews! Let's try to beat my record!

**Doitashimashite****-** You're welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **So… I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I've been busy working all day and haven't been able to write. And I was having issues with the site, but they're fixed now. And -as much as I hate to admit it- school starts this Tuesday, so that means that you can expect updates mostly on Sundays and Mondays, because I'll be working like crazy on the weekends! So, wish me luck with sophomore year in high school, and please bear with me for these longer updates.

* * *

**.:Chapter.Two:.**

Hinata bit her lip, a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. She grabbed onto the rod and wriggled it, hoping that would do the trick. Nothing. She pulled on the rope and tugged with all her might, thinking that would free it. Still no use.

The monster invading her window of her brand new apartment would not budge.

Hinata had tried everything. She'd coaxed it, punched it, threw kunai at it, cursed at it, wiggled it, poked it, but nothing would make this… this thing do as it was supposed to.

Hinata grabbed onto the long rod again, pulling down with all of her might. Suddenly, someone barged through the door.

"HINATA-CHAAAAN! I'M HEEEERE!" a certain blonde bellowed as he pushed the front door open.

"EEEP!" Hinata yelled, whirling around, and managing to release the rod and it soared through the air, going where ever her hands lead it. Which happened to be Uzumaki Naruto's face.

"What the- GAAAAAAAAAH!"

"N-Naruto-kun!"

Naruto lay on the ground, rubbing his left cheek, where a bright red line was indented into the tan skin. Hinata gasped loudly, flung the rod to another corner of her living room, and rushed to the boy laying on the floor.

"Naruto-kun! I'm so sorry! You… you startled me."

Naruto sat up laughing slightly, a big grin adorned on his face. "It's alright Hinata-chan. I guess I should've knocked…" He grabbed the Hyuuga's hand, smiling at her creamy eyes.

Said creamy eyes widened, Hinata blushed bright red, pulling her hand away quickly. "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto's smile faded slightly, and his bright blue eyes lost a little bit of their gleam. "Sorry, Hinata-chan. I just… well, we _have_ been on three dates already… I just thought…"

"I know, I'm sorry," Hinata said. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, not noticing Naruto looking up at her window.

"New blinds?" The Hyuuga's calm look suddenly turned to an angry, frustrated one.

"Hai," she hissed. "They wont cooperate and won't stay in place. I finally got them up, but when I pull on the cord, nothing happens! I can't figure out what's wrong…"

Naruto grinned, standing up. "I'll fix them for you!" After several minutes, Naruto had pulled down the blinds, turned them around, and put them back on the window.

"Here's the problem, they were on backwards! Here, now you just hook this here… tada!" Naruto said as he hooked the rod that adjusts the blinds on.

Hinata smiled as she stood up, taking Naruto's hand in hers. "Arigatou, Naruto-kun."

Naruto beamed down at the small girl, squeezing her hand. "No problem! Now, let's go find teme. Then we have to head for Sakura-chan's…"

Hinata nodded, then the two left after Hinata locked the door to her new apartment, which Tenten had managed to convince the Hyuuga girl to buy just before this last mission. They walked down the street, not holding hands, but standing closer than they used to. Soon, a certain spiky haired person came in to view.

"Oi, teme!" The youngest Uchiha did not turn around, but slowed down to acknowledge the pair's presence.

"How're ya holding up?" Naruto asked, Hinata to his left, Sasuke on his right.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Hn?"

"Well," Naruto said, glancing down at Hinata before continuing as the trio turned a corner. "This mission."

Onyx orbs stayed focused forward.

"To escort Sakura-chan to Sound."

Still forward.

"We'll never see her again."

"…"

"She's gonna have to marry him-"

"We don't know that for sure, Naruto-kun…"

"Well… she'll probably be some kind of toy then…" Naruto muttered.

Onyx orbs blinked twice. Naruto and Hinata noticed as Sasuke's jaw clenched, his fists shoved into his pockets.

"Poor Sakura-chan," Hinata said quietly, looking down at her hands clasped in front of her. "She is so honorable."

"I can't believe Tsunade-baa-chan is letting this man take Sakura-chan! How do we even know that he's going to start a war!" Naruto shouted, his hands turning into fists.

"Hinata is right."

"Eh?" Naruto turned to his best friend next to him.

"Sakura is doing the honorable thing for Konoha. Sure, there's a chance that Ryuu won't attack, but there's also a great chance that he will. And it's not all Tsunade-sama's fault, Sakura chose to go." Naruto's jaw dropped.

"How can you say that! Sakura is giving herself up for Konoha, and it's doing nothing for her! She's giving up her body, her soul, her life, for Konoha- for us! And all we can do is say 'She's so honorable!' 'There's nothing we can do!' 'Oh boo hoo!' What a load of bull shit!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata whispered, people beginning to stare. "Hush!"

"I don't know what happened to you when you were with that bastard," Naruto continued, glaring at Sasuke, who's eyes flickered at the mention of the snake man he once thought would help him. "But you changed. The old Sasuke would never _ever_ give up, until everything had been tried, every rock turned, every ramen noodle eaten!"

Hinata sweat dropped as Naruto's speech that was once almost inspirational, turned back into Naruto-talk. Sasuke's eyes remained forward as the group walked up the stairs that lead to Sakura's apartment.

They knocked, but when no one answered, Sasuke pushed past the door, kicking it aside with ease.

"Sakura-chan? Are you here?" Hinata asked as they searched every room.

"She's not here. SAKURA-CHAN, WHERE ARE YOU!" Naruto bellowed out one of Sakura's open windows.

"Dobe," Sasuke said, holding up a piece of paper that was on Sakura's table. "She left this."

_Hinata-chan, Naruto, Sasuke:_

"Just 'Sasuke'? What did you do teme?"

"Shut up. I didn't do anything."

"Hush, both of you!"

_You know where to find me._

_---Sakura_

"Great, we're never gonna find her!"

Sasuke glared at his former teammate. "Dobe. How can you _not_ know where she is?"

"I don't know where she is either," Hinata confessed, placing the paper down.

Sasuke sighed, making his way for the door. "She's at the bridge."

* * *

When the familiar bridge came in to view, the group picked up the pace, their eyes searching for any sign of pink. 

"There," Hinata said, pointing to something at one end of the bridge. When they reached the kunoichi, she didn't look up at them, but continued to stare down below her.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, letting the girl know that they should get going. But all thoughts were erased as Sakura looked up at him. Her eyes- Sasuke could count the number of times he'd seen them like that on one hand. Whenever she felt she was in the greatest danger, whenever she needed him, she looked at him like that. Like in the Chuunin Exams, or the night he left, or just the other morning. When Ryuu was climbing on top of Sakura, she looked up at Sasuke, her eyes pleading him to get the pervert off of her. It was when her eyes looked like this that Sasuke felt a weird feeling in his stomach, and his voice was caught in his throat.

Immediately, Sasuke's mind brought up a memory. Just two days ago. When they were alone in the hospital room. What was that feeling he'd gotten? Sasuke shook his head, he didn't understand what this girl was doing to him, but he didn't know if he wanted to know, either.

Sakura sighed as she looked to Hinata and Naruto, a sad smile on her face. "I sure am going to miss this place," she whispered, turning back so she was staring at the water below them. "But, I'm glad that you guys are the ones taking me. So we can be together as long as possible, y'know?"

"Sakura-chan," Hinata started quietly, "Are you ready to go?"

Sakura sighed again, then straightened up, smiling brightly at her friends. "Aa. I've said goodbye to everyone, and I've sold my apartment. All of my most needed belongings are in here," she gestured to the pack on the ground, "And I'm sure that Ryuu…sama will provide me with everything else I need."

"Okay," Naruto said quietly, still unsure of the situation. "Let's go."

Sakura was surprised when she saw nearly all of Konoha standing at the gates. The crowd parted as the four walked up to the big gates, everyone smiling and patting Sakura on the back, thanking her for what she was doing. Ino was crying, and she gave Sakura a small bouquet of iris.

"It means long lasting friendship, they're from my family's flower shop. I'll miss you, Sakura-chan," Ino managed through her tears. A tear slid down Sakura's pale cheek as she embraced Ino in a hug.

"You're my best friend, Ino-pig."

"And you are mine Forehead Girl."

The girls parted and Sakura pulled out one iris, tucking it behind Ino's ear. "Don't forget."

Ino smiled. "Never."

"OH MY BEAUTIFUL SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Oh no," Sakura mumbled, trying to hide behind Sasuke and Naruto.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? What are you-"

"WHERE DID MY YOUTHFUL BEAUTY GO?"

A bowl-cutted young man appeared, several bouquets of red colored flowers in both hands. "Oh my youthful goddess, I shall miss you forever! Um… where did Sakura-chan go?"

Naruto gave a weird look to the object behind him. "She's right here, Lee. But I don't know what she's-"

"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura hissed, bonking the fox boy on the head.

"Sakura-chan! I will miss your youthful beauty!" Rock Lee wailed, thrusting the bouquets into Sakura's face.

"Um, thank you Rock Lee. You really didn't have to-"

"But I did! This is my last way to prove my love to you!"

"Uh-"

"These flowers are Camellia. Which means you're a flame in my heart. Which you are! They are the perfect flower for our relationship!"

"Um… Lee, we're just friends. I'm sorry-"

Lee waved his hand, cutting the roseate-haired woman off. "Bah! Let's forget this façade, the secrecy! I want the world to know of our love!"

"WHAT?"

"Our beautiful, youthful, passionate love!"

"But I-"

"Come, Sakura-chan, lets prove our love to all of Konoha, before we never see each other again! Oh, woe is me!" Lee brought the back of his hand to his forehead in a dramatic way. "We are finally brought together, and now must be pulled away forever!"

"Prove… our love…?"

"A kiss! A beautiful, romantic kiss. Our first and our last. Come to me Sakura-chan!"

"Ah! Lee, what are you- aack!" Lee wrapped his arms around Sakura's petite frame, puckering his lips a little more than necessary, and slowly lowered his lips to Sakura's-

Until a hand grabbed the back of Lee's spandex shirt and whipped him to the ground, effectively preventing any lip locking to happen. Sakura, realizing that those horrendous lips weren't going to collide with hers and ruin her first kiss, opened one eye.

"S-Sasuke?" She opened her other eye.

"Time to go. Bushy Brow's holding us up." Sakura smiled gratefully, lowering her arms that had been braced in front of her for protection.

"Oh, um right. Well, I can't really bring all these flowers so… um, why don't you keep them Rock Lee? For when you find that… lucky girl."

"Okay, well we should be going Sakura-chan," Naruto said, adjusting the strap on his backpack.

Sakura nodded, then hugged Kakashi and Tsunade goodbye.

"Come on, Sakura-chan," Hinata said as the two girls started walking down the path. Naruto and Sasuke were about to follow the pair, when two hands grabbed their shoulders.

They turned around to meet honey-colored eyes. "I'm counting on you to take care of her," Tsunade said in all seriousness.

"Of course!" Naruto shouted, straightening up and saluting. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonde, but nodded to the Godaime.

"Now remember boys," Kakashi said, putting his infamous book away. "Sound and Ryuu have many enemies. Sakura is an easy target to hold against Ryuu. So be prepared to be attacked numerous times. Never let your guard down."

"We'll protect Sakura-chan with our life!" Naruto shouted as he and Sasuke turned to leave.

"Sasuke," Tsunade whispered. The Uchiha turned around and walked back to his former sensei and the Hokage. Kakashi and Tsunade glanced at each other, then turned back to Sasuke. "There's something you should know-"

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. "Are you coming?" Sasuke nodded and walked to meet with the three others, forgetting about what Tsunade was about to say.

* * *

"I got it! What if we tell Ryuu-teme that you're dying! Like you have some disease that you can catch just by looking at you! And it's completely miserable! And you're too sick to leave Konoha… and he can't come because- we're on quarantine!" Naruto shouted. 

Sakura arched a pink brow as they walked up a hill. "The whole village under quarantine? And you can't catch a deadly disease just by looking at someone, Naruto."

Naruto scowled. "Well, it was a good try!"

"Do you think that if you told him you were already married, it would scare him away?" Hinata asked.

Sakura frowned. "He seems like the kind of guy who would just get _more_ turned on…"

"What if you acted all sexy-like and he died from overhorny-ness!" Naruto shouted. Hinata blushed a dark red and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Or maybe if you act innocent and… pure he'll be less a-attracted," Hinata suggested.

Sakura sighed. "That won't work either. If I act innocent and demure, he'll want to be the one who 'breaks me in.' If I act sexy and seductive, he'll think I'm an expert at… _pleasuring._ It's a lose-lose situation."

Sasuke didn't like where this conversation was going. The way Sakura was talking was giving him weird feelings in his stomach. And when she said 'pleasuring', Sasuke's heartbeat sped up and he -unhappily- noticed his pants tighten a bit in a certain area.

He sighed, he need to get away from them all and clear his head. Sasuke looked up to the sky, the sun was beginning to set. He looked around, but couldn't see any clearings in the woods the group was walking through.

"It's getting dark. We should split up and look for clearings we can camp in for the night," Sasuke said.

"Hinata-chan and I will look on this side," Naruto said, gesturing to one side of the path. "Teme, you and Sakura-chan can look over there."

"Okay," Sakura said, heading to her left.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto shouted as he and Hinata went right. Sasuke turned around to face Naruto. "Remember what Tsunade-baa-san and Kakashi-sensei said. Keep an eye out for ambushes."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but nodded before turning around with Sakura. "Stay close," he ordered.

Sakura crossed her arms. "I can protect myself."

"No."

"N-No?"

Sasuke stopped and turned so he was directly facing Sakura. "You're our charge. It's our orders to protect you. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe."

Sakura's cheeks turned a rosy pink. "S-Sasuke-kun…?"

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away from the blushing girl. He rolled his eyes once he was sure his back was to her.

_Girls, _he thought to himself. _Why do they always get so damn worked up about every little thing?_

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, jogging over to them. "We found a spot. Come on."

* * *

Sakura sat on a log, staring into the fire, her eyes occasionally glancing up at the raven haired man sitting across from her. Naruto and Hinata sat on a longer log together, but Sakura and Sasuke were too buried in their own thoughts to even notice when Naruto and Hinata each slowly scooted closer to each other. 

Sakura shook her head again. She was confused. What Sasuke said earlier sounded like something he'd say in her fantasies. He'd step in front of her just when she thought it was too late…

_Sakura would be fighting some deadly ninja- preferably a strong, muscle bound kind- and would be tiring out. Her kunai and shuriken would be all used and Sakura's inhuman strength wasn't as inhuman as normal because she was so exhausted. Sakura would know she was running out of chakra and time._

_Sakura would collapse on the ground, her chest heaving, her hair strewn all over her face. The ninja would smirk, thinking he had won, and would lift his weapon- the most commonly used weapon of choice was a katana- when suddenly someone would jump in front of Sakura, smacking away the katana with their bare hand._

_Sakura would look up at her savior, and recognize that chicken hair she found unbearably cute. Her heart would do a back flip as she realized who her rescuer was._

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

_And then Sasuke would turn around, smirk and say something amazingly wonderful like "Leave this to me." Then, without even turning back around, Sasuke would connect his fist with the nin's face, killing him as his head crashed into a tree or boulder or something- once it was a cactus-. _

_Sasuke would lean down over Sakura, who was still laying down on her back. Sasuke's dark, mysterious eyes would look deep into Sakura's sea foam ones. Then he would smirk, tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear before cupping Sakura's face. He'd lower his head so they could feel each other's breath on their lips._

_Then Sasuke would say something like, "I love you Haruno Sakura, and I always will. I always have, I just couldn't tell you because I was afraid Itachi or Orochimaru would find out. If my enemies learned how I truly felt about you, they'd use you to get to me for sure, that's why I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry."_

"_I forgive you, Sasuke-kun, and I understand. I love you, too!" Sasuke would smirk, and then lean down to kiss Sakura, who would wrap her arms around his neck. Sasuke would lift Sakura up, still kissing her, tucking one arm under her knees and his other would brace her back as he made his way to his apartment. Sasuke would hear Sakura moan, and then he'd lick her bottom lip, smirking as she gladly allowed him entry to her mouth._

_Sasuke would kick the door open and work his way up to his bedroom. There, he'd gently and roughly all at once throw her onto his large bed. Sasuke would whip off his shirt, revealing rippling muscles and a nice six pack that Sakura had longed to touch since she was about twelve._

_Then Sasuke would kiss Sakura's neck, and slowly reach for the hem of her red tank top, slowly inching it off of her and then tossing it to a corner as he moved his hands up to cup Sakura's--_

"…Sakura-chan? Hello?" Sakura shook her head, realizing Naruto was poking her head.

"Wha- What?" Sakura snapped, as the real world came into focus. Hinata was slightly giggling, Sasuke was staring at her, and Naruto was still poking the pink haired girl's head.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, hiding behind Hinata after seeing the evil glare Sakura had given him from poking her head. "You were staring at the fire and sighing and smiling and… what's so funny, Hinata-chan?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her cheeks turned bright red as she looked over at the giggling Hyuuga. Apparently Hinata knew _exactly _what Sakura had been doing. Hinata's creamy eyes glanced over from Sakura to Sasuke then back to Sakura. Both males were very confused, but only one of them bothered to show it.

"Eh? Girls are so confusing!"

"Hn," Sasuke replied with a nod. Sakura rolled her eyes, then yawned.

"Well, I suppose we should get to bed. Good night everyone!" Hinata and Sakura stood up while Sasuke and Naruto put out the fire.

"Psst! Hinata-chan! Come here!" Naruto whispered, even though Sasuke and Sakura heard exactly what he said. Hinata blushed, but walked over to the blonde. He whispered something in Hinata's ear, causing her to turn as red as Sakura's tank top, but nodded.

"What was that about?" Sakura asked as she walked away from Sasuke over towards her tent she shared with Hinata.

Hinata smiled softly, keeping her eyes down on her sleeping bag. "It was… nothing. Good night." Sakura arched a brow, but shrugged it off, deciding she'd get it out of the Hyuuga heiress sooner or later.

Both girls lay down and Sakura was about to blow out the lantern that hung in their tent when suddenly they heard something from the boys' tent.

"AAH! A SPIDER! KILL IT TEME!"

* * *

_Zzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip_

Sakura blinked her tired eyes open slowly, realizing that it was still dark out. Who was that trying to get into her tent? She looked over and saw even through the darkness of the night that Hinata's sleeping bag was empty. Was it Hinata coming back from going to the bathroom or something?

"H-Hinata-chan? Is that you?"

No, the body was built too largely. Maybe it was one of her male companions.

"Sasuke? Naruto? What are you doing?"

**WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? **Inner Sakura roared. **WE'VE ONLY BEEN ASLEEP FOR A FEW HOURS! GO AWAY!**

The figure still wasn't answering.

"S-Sasuke? Naruto? Cut that out… y-you're scaring me…"

An ear piercing scream shot through the cool night air.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh! A cliffy! I know… I'm mean, but maybe this will get more reviews or something. And speaking of reviews, PLEASE DO! Please, I'm begging you! School starting soon, so a lot of reviews will really make my day. 


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I love you all! Please keep it up!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Three:.**

_The figure still wasn't answering._

"_S-Sasuke? Naruto? Cut that out… y-you're scaring me…"_

_An ear piercing scream shot through the cool night air._

* * *

Sasuke's head whipped out of his tent in the direction of the scream the same time Hinata and Naruto- who'd been gallivanting around the woods doing who knows what (just kidding, they were just talking)- came running back to the campsite. 

"What were you doing?" Sasuke hissed at the pair, who both blushed furiously.

"We w-were just t-talking… I s-swear!" Hinata whispered as Naruto nodded. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You should've told me that Sakura was alone in her tent. Idiots." Sasuke was about to reach for Sakura's tent opening, when suddenly a black haired man flew out of it, followed by a battle cry and a pink haired whirl launching on top of the intruder. Sakura was punching the black haired man's face, muttering incoherent things when Sasuke decided it was time to pry the kunoichi off of him.

Sasuke wrapped an arm around Sakura's waist while she kicked and flailed her arms, still trying to get at her attacker. The man stayed laying on the ground, Naruto couldn't tell if he was dead or just unconscious.

"Is he d-dead?" Hinata whispered, voicing Naruto's thoughts. Naruto looked at Sasuke, who was still struggling to calm down Sakura. He leaned down to check the man's pulse, when suddenly the man flung a kunai into Naruto's leg.

"AAARG! HE'S ALIVE!" Naruto shouted. The pair struggling in the corner stopped and raced over to the perpetrator, who was now slowly standing up, reaching in his pocket for something.

Naruto ripped the kunai from his thigh, grabbing his own from the holster around his other thigh.

"Where were you?" Sakura hissed to her 'protectors'. "I had to fend for myself! This _bimbo_ shouldn't have been able to get within fifty feet of me! Some team you are…" she snorted.

"Calm down," Sasuke snapped. "It's one guy, we can take him." Then the man laughed, pulling his hand from his pocket, his hand bunched as it held something. He lifted his fist, then threw something to the ground. Or actually, somethings.

"Smoke bombs!" Sasuke shouted, bringing his arms up to shield his eyes as the others did so as well. When the smoke cleared, the four realized that they were surrounded by about one hundred ninjas.

Sasuke sighed. "I spoke too soon."

* * *

Sasuke and Hinata activated their bloodline traits as Naruto became hundreds. Sakura grabbed for a kunai, when suddenly a hand came down on hers. Sakura's apple green eyes met crimson ones. 

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Sakura hissed as Sasuke's grip on her wrist tightened.

"No," he stated simply, his grip on Sakura still strong.

"But-"

"You're _our_ charge. You don't fight. Go hide," Sasuke ordered, releasing Sakura's hand as Hinata and the Narutos charged the ninjas in the trees.

Sasuke turned to go fight, but Sakura wasn't about to drop it. "What?" she snapped. "No way in hell! You guys need me!"

Sasuke whipped around again, his hands on Sakura's shoulders. "No, Sakura. It's too dangerous." Sasuke averted his crimson gaze from Sakura's teary eyes as he let go of her, turning away slowly.

"But-"

"I said no, Sakura!" Sasuke shouted, causing the pink haired girl's face to crumple up with hurt. Before Sasuke could even open his mouth to add on, trying to fix what he said, Sakura raced through the woods, never looking back. Sasuke sighed, rubbing his temples.

_Why does she always overreact at whatever I say?_

**Well you could've done that differently, genius.**

"Oi, teme!" Naruto shouted after shoving a kunai into a ninja's chest. "Go after her, Hinata-chan and I can take em!"

Sasuke looked to Hinata, who paused to nod at him. Sasuke sighed, he knew that if he didn't go after the girl, something was bound to happen. And if memory served correctly, it was always bad.

* * *

Just when he was about to give up, Sasuke heard someone muttering. As a tree crashed down, Sasuke knew he had found the kunoichi. 

"Stupid Sasuke…" Sakura muttered as she punched another tree, leaving a bowl-sized dent in it. "Thinks he knows everything… thinks he's so _damn_ smart… so good at _everything_… Mr. Perfect… hmph perfect my ass! If he's so perfect, then how come he need Orochimaru's help to kill Itachi? He's not so strong… I'm probably just as strong as he is! …Or close anyway… idiot's never even noticed how much stronger I've gotten since he got back! Egotistical bastard…"

Sasuke was about to tell the pink haired girl to stop acting stupid and come back, when suddenly a shuriken whizzed past, heading right towards Sakura.

Sakura's ear perked, then she spun around, using a kunai to deflect the metal star-like weapon. She immediately went into a battle stance, her eyes searching the trees, also searching for any chakra. Sasuke did the same, but remained hidden with his chakra masked, wanting to see if Sakura had grown as much as she'd said.

A voice laughed, but it startled Sakura, because it seemed to be coming from every direction. Her pink hair swished as Sakura spun about, trying to find the hidden ninja. "How can you fight me if you don't know where I am, little girl?"

Another shuriken, this time larger, shot down from another direction, followed by two more in other directions as well. Sasuke was confused, where was this guy coming from?

Sakura was wondering the same thing. She closed her eyes, letting her chakra do the work for finding the ninja. Finally, she found him, he seemed to be doing some kind of jutsu to make him seem like he was everywhere. Eyes still closed, Sakura launched a kunai from her chakra-filled arm towards her right.

Sasuke was impressed when a ninja clad in all black fell from the tree. Sakura opened her eyes and smirked. She walked over towards the fallen ninja, when suddenly his light grey eyes popped open, about to whack Sakura with a large tree branch that had fallen with him.

Sasuke was about to race to Sakura's rescue- like always, when Sakura punched the branch that swung towards her, breaking it into tiny pieces. The ninja gasped as Sakura literally grabbed a tree and dropped it on him, killing the man instantly. Sakura kicked his head then smirked triumphantly. But she wasn't done. She'd sensed another chakra somewhere behind her, it had disappeared as quickly as it had been sensed.

The rustling in the bushes told Sakura where her second attacker was coming from. Sakura masked her chakra and hid behind a tree just next to where the other ninja was emerging from.

"Sak-"

**POW!**

"Ah! Sasuke!"

* * *

Hinata dropped to the ground, her body exhausted and her chakra nearly gone. She was panting heavily and her shin was bleeding pretty profusely. Naruto and his clones were still finishing off the last of the ninjas, and Hinata could barely keep her eyes open. 

"Don't worry, I've got this under control, Hinata-chan!" Naruto insisted. Hinata nodded, leaning against a large tree, closing her eyes. By now, the sun had risen and it was pretty light out. Light enough for Hinata to feel a shadow cast down on her face, meaning that someone was standing over her. Judging by their chakra, not a good someone.

Hinata slowly opened her eyes, reaching for a kunai when suddenly the large man in front of her stiffened, then started to fall forward. Hinata gasped and rolled away quickly, barely missing the man's fall. She saw that it was Naruto who'd rescued her. Hinata's ivory gaze looked around, seeing that all the ninjas were dead except Naruto. His clones were gone as well.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked, crouching next to the small Hyuuga, his cerulean eyes looking at Hinata's bloody leg.

"Hai, I think so. Thank you, Naruto-kun… for… saving my life," Hinata whispered. Naruto grinned, running a hand through his now dirty hair.

"Of course, Hinata-chan! I'll always be there for you!" Naruto found a cloth in Sakura's bag of medical supplies and began to tie it around Hinata's leg after cleaning it out.

As Hinata winced, Naruto's face crumpled with worry. "Gomen, Hinata-chan! I'm so sorry!"

Hinata smiled, "It's alright Naruto-kun. You didn't mean to- oh my!"

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Y-you're bleeding!" Naruto looked down to see blood seeping through his shirt. He lifted up his shirt, revealing a gash across his toned stomach. Hinata helped Naruto remove his orange sweatshirt and eased him out of the black undershirt under it, Hinata blushing the whole time.

Hinata slowly washed out Naruto's wound and wrapped it, because she didn't have enough chakra to heal it. The two sat in an awkward silence then, Naruto shirtless and Hinata in her white tank top (she removed her jacket after they were done fighting). Naruto cleared his throat nervously, noticing that Hinata's knee was resting on his thigh.

"Um… thanks a lot, Hinata-chan," Naruto managed to say.

Hinata blushed, her gaze still on the ground to her left. "You're welcome. It was nothing, really."

"It meant something to me," Naruto whispered, causing Hinata's white eyes to instantly lock with his. Hinata gulped, feeling her heart beat faster and louder. Naruto swallowed hard, then slowly leaned forward, bringing a hand up to cup Hinata's creamy cheek.

Both closed their eyes as they leaned forward. They were so close, they could feel each other's breath! Just a little closer…

"I said I was sorry, okay! Look, it's not like I did it on purpose!" Hinata and Naruto's eyes shot open and the two quickly backed away as Sakura and Sasuke made their way to the clearing.

"Hmb," Sasuke managed to say as he continued to pinch his nose.

"_Don't 'hn' me!_"

"I'll 'hmb' whoever I wamt to!"

"I don't think so, Uchiha."

"I do, Harudo."

"Oh yeah, well I'm not going to heal you then!" Sakura snapped, sticking out her tongue.

"Stop actinck so childish!"

"I'm not acting- oh!" Sakura now realized Hinata and Naruto were sitting on the ground, both barely clothed and bright red. "Oh my," Sakura whispered.

"What?" Sasuke snapped, wiping some blood from his sore nose. Then he looked over at Hinata and Naruto. "What the hell is goinck omb?"

"N-Nothing!" Hinata stammered, scooting away from Naruto and pulling on her jacket as Naruto slid on his shirts.

Sakura crossed her arms, smirked, and quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well then how come you were-"

"H-hey, what happened to Sasuke's nose?" Naruto shouted quickly. Sakura blushed, forgetting her question, and suddenly found her big toe fascinating.

"Um…" Naruto gasped and started howling with laughter, falling over and clutching his sides.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen!" he shouted. "The great Uchiha Sasuke was _hit_ by Sakura?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shud up, dombe."

"Haha! You sound funny!"

"Well you _look_ funny," Sasuke snapped, sitting down and still pinching his nose. It was now that Sakura noticed her friends' wounds and healed them, noticing how Naruto and Hinata kept glancing at each other. Sakura smirked, but chose to say nothing.

* * *

Sakura poked her head out of her tent, looking over at the bonfire where Sasuke was sitting. She quickly glanced back at Hinata, who was sleeping- exhausted from the morning's battle, and then silently slipped out. 

Sasuke looked up to see Sakura walking towards him. Sasuke glared, she still refused to heal his nose! And it hurt really bad. If it was broken, there'd be hell to pay.

Sakura noticed that Sasuke was still mad at her as she sat down next to him, folding her hands in her lap as they both stared at the fire.

"We'll leave first thing tomorrow," Sasuke said without emotion.

Sakura nodded, "Everyone should be strong enough by then." Sasuke nodded, continuing to poke the logs of the fire with his stick.

"S-Sasuke…" said Uchiha stopped poking the fire to show he was listening. "Thanks for offering to take the night watch.

"Hn."

"I- I'm sorry for hitting you…"

"…"

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Sasuke said, arching a brow.

"I mean… about… _him_…" Sasuke's Serious Face. Sakura's Worried Face. She sighed, she blew it again. Sakura stood up. "Sorry. I'll go." A hand grabbed the kunoichi's wrist.

"One."

"What?"

"You can ask one question about… my brother," Sasuke said, his focus staying forward. Sakura's heart lurched. What had she done?

But Sakura sat down, this was one of the only times Sasuke would open up to her. She knew she should take advantage of it before he changed his mind. Sakura smiled softly, turning to the youngest Uchiha.

"Thank you, Sasuke. Here, turn towards me." Sasuke did so, and was surprised when Sakura healed his nose. Sasuke smirked to show his gratitude. Sakura grinned back, then grew a serious face.

"Your question?" Sakura nodded, biting her lip as she focused on Sasuke's nose.

"Was it… was it worth it?" Sasuke was speechless. No one had ever bothered to ask him this, so he never bothered to prepare an answer. He didn't know what to say. Sakura edged him on. "You know… the whole revenge thing. Was it worth betraying Konoha just to kill Itachi? Was the feeling you got when you finally knew he was dead worth betraying Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei? Was running out on all of us worth hurting me?"

Sakura lowered her hands as Sasuke continued to stare at her, his eyes wide. Sakura's questions ran over and over in his head. Was it worth it? Sasuke had asked himself that question thousands of times, but every time, he just ignored the question. And now, it had come full circle, and it was time for him to decide.

Was betraying the closest thing Sasuke had to family worth avenging his real family?

It was several more silent minutes before Sasuke sighed and decided to answer. He stared into the fire as Sakura watched him, knowing that Sasuke would speak soon.

"Yes."

Sakura frowned, feeling the tears begin to fall. She walked briskly into her tent without even bidding Sasuke goodnight or goodbye.

And against Sasuke's own will, a voice rang out through his head.

_Because now you're safe from him._

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for taking so long to update, I was busy working and getting ready for school. And speaking of school, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next because of all the Back-to-School stuff going on. But for sure by this weekend. I'm guessing that updates are now going to be weekly instead of every other day. But don't worry, just because I won't do so as often doesn't mean that I wont at all. It'll just take a little longer. 

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Sorry for the long update. School and auditions have taken over my life. But don't worry, there's still room for It's just easier on the weekends…

* * *

**.:Chapter.Four:.**

"GOOOOOD MORNIIIIIIIING, SAKURA-CHAAAAAAN!"

The pink haired kunoichi groaned and turned over in her warm cocoon-like sleeping back after chucking a pillow at the blonde loud mouth who served as her alarm clock. "Mmmmph, go 'way Naruto. Nnng iiimp teeereeed," Sakura mumbled in her sleepy stupor.

Naruto frowned then climbed into the tent, squatting on Hinata's empty sleeping bag. He smiled at the tuft of pink sticking out of the sleeping bag, his finger itching to poke it. Which is what he did.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! It's six o'clock! Sasuke-teme says he wants to leave at 6:30, so wake up!" Naruto insisted, poking the part of Sakura's head that was visible. Sakura just groaned and swatted his tan head away, mumbling incoherent things.

Naruto brought his index finger up to his chin, coming up with a plan. Blue eyes sparkling with mischief, the blonde fox boy reached slowly for a few strands of pink. Clutching the rosette hairs, he tugged with all his might, effectively ripping the hairs from Sakura's head.

Sasuke and Hinata looked up from their breakfast as a loud scream was heard from Sakura's tent, then suddenly Naruto tumbled out of it, he'd surely have a black eye. Sasuke smirked. Sakura was right, she _had_ changed over the years, but some things were still the same as always.

"I'll be back," Sasuke mumbled, meaning he had to use the little boys room. Hinata nodded, still eating and watching Naruto try to stand up.

Sakura stormed out of her tent, her hair messy and strewn all over the place. She glared at Naruto, who was trying to sit down without hurting himself even more, then turned towards Hinata, pointing to her left.

"I saw a waterfall down there last night. I'm going to go wash up." Then she whirled around so she was glaring at Naruto. "Don't even _think_ about spying on me, got it Uzumaki?"

Said Uzumaki looked up at his friend with innocent eyes. "Whaaaaat? What makes you even consider that I would do that?"

Sakura crossed her arms and arched a brow as Hinata smiled. "Don't play dumb with me, mister. I've seen you hanging out with Jiraiya- and I've heard about what he does for fun…" Naruto got shifty eyes as Hinata arched a brow.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? JIRAIYA-SAMA HASN'T TAUGHT ME ANYTHING!" Naruto shouted. He and Hinata got into an argument at Sakura left to go wash up.

* * *

Sakura set down her clothes and towel, looking around quickly incase Naruto did try any perverted things, even though she was pretty sure he wouldn't. She slowly slid off her sandals and cargo pants, then pulled off her red and white tank top, leaving her in her undergarments. Sakura quickly scanned around her one last time before completely removing her other clothing, stepping into the cool water that felt wonderful against her aching muscles. 

She walked over towards the waterfall, standing under it, letting it drench her body completely and arching her back so the water was beating down at it, like a back massage. Sakura let out a content sigh before submerging herself completely in the water.

**Meanwhile…**

"D-DON'T TELL ME HE HAS YOU READING THOSE FILTHY BOOKS OF HIS!"

"I JUST READ ONE, I SWEAR!"

"What was it?"

"…"

"NARUTO-KUN…"

"Fine. Icha Icha Paradise: Deserted Island Edition."

"I _KNEW_ I SAW THAT IN YOUR APARTMENT THE OTHER WEEK! YOU DENIED IT!"

"Oi, where's Sakura?" Sasuke asked, interrupting Naruto and Hinata's very heated argument. The two didn't look up at the Uchiha, but remained in a glaring contest.

"By the waterfall…" Naruto said, waving his hand. Sasuke nodded, then headed off in that direction. Neither Naruto nor Hinata remembered to warn him about exactly what Sakura was doing there…

When Sasuke made his way through the woods when he finally heard the sound of rushing water. Soon enough, the waterfall came into view, but Sakura didn't. Sasuke looked all over, but his pink haired charge was no where to be found.

He was about to head back, when suddenly someone appeared from the water out of no where. Sasuke blinked. She was definitely a woman- _definitely_… She had pale skin, a thin waist, a chest that made Sasuke's heart rate speed up, and gorgeous, shoulder-length pink hair, her slender arms- wait.

Pink hair?

As in… Sakura?

Sasuke gasped loudly, quickly diving behind a bush and masking his chakra. Had Sakura seen him? He prayed to Kami that she hadn't. He couldn't believe he'd just done that. Sakura would kill him if she found out he'd seen her naked. Sasuke wanted to kill himself for doing it. She trusted him! And all he could do was gawk at her body.

**Her wonderful body…**

_Ah! What? Shut up. _

**I don't think I've ever seen such large br-**

_That's because you've never seen any others._

**And whose fault is that?**

Too bad Sasuke was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone sneaking up on him.

"UCHIHA SASUKE! WHAT THE **HELL** DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Sasuke turned around slowly to see Sakura, fully clothed (thankfully) with dripping wet hair. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. And somehow, his male eyes were scanning Sakura up and down, thanking Kami-sama for the fact that her clothes were sticking to her body like a second skin. And then those gorgeous obsidian eyes stuck to Sakura's chest. And chose to stay there. Ignoring Sakura's rantings about "Respect" and "Personal Space" and "Privacy" and a certain someone's "Bastardness".

"…Sasuke? Sasuke! DAMNIT SASUKE, YOU'RE NOT EVEN LISTENING!"

"Whaaa?"

"GAAAAH! FUCK YOU, UCHIHA!" Sakura's fist instantly knocked out the Uchiha as it connected with his face.

* * *

_Sasuke was wandering around the woods. Naruto and Hinata had sent him to go find Sakura. She was down by the waterfall. He soon came to the waterfall, but couldn't find Sakura._

_But he heard giggling. Coming from a certain cherry blossom. _

_Sasuke looked closer. The waterfall had suddenly transformed into a hot spring and Sakura was in it, the water just covering her breasts, but still low enough to let Sasuke know that she was topless, and most likely fully nude. _

"_Why are you just staring?"_

_Sasuke shook his head, looking into Sakura's bright green eyes. "What?"_

_Sakura giggled again, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Come join me." She bit her lip, lifting her hand and motioning him closer with her index finger. Sasuke gulped, looking past his shoulder behind him._

"_Are you sure? What about before-"_

_Sakura waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. All that matters is that you're here, and I'm here. But I'm the only one naked." _

_Sasuke still looked unsure, so Sakura sighed. And before Sasuke could even ask what she was doing, she was out of the hot spring, her wet body pressed against his. Sasuke tried very hard to keep his eyes on Sakura's. _

_Sakura giggled, then slowly tugged Sasuke's shirt off, running her hands all over his chest and toned abdomen. Then she pulled at his pants, letting them drop to the ground as Sasuke stepped out of them. Now all he was wearing was his boxers. Sakura smirked seductively as she tugged at the waistband, letting the boxer shorts drop to the ground as well._

_Then, Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand, leading him into the hot spring. Sasuke sat on a rock and Sakura giggled, scooting over so she was sitting on his lap facing him, her legs on either side of his hips._

"_S-Sakura-"_

"_Shh," she said, pressing a finger to his lips. "Stop talking, and enjoy the ride."_

_Sasuke smirked, his lips colliding with Sakura's plump pink ones. He sat on a rock submerged in the water as Sakura straddled his lap, wrapping her slender arms around his neck. Sasuke brought his arms around Sakura's firm back, rubbing it up and down as his tongue plunged into her mouth._

"_Mmmm Sasuke-kun…"_

"…_Sasuke-kun…"_

…_Sasuke-kun…_

…_Sasuke…_

…Sasuke…

"…Sasuke…"

_What's going on?_

Sasuke kept his eyes closed. He was laying on the ground, his left side was much warmer than his right. He assumed he was laying next to the fire.

"…Sasuke…"

Sakura. Sasuke's thoughts immediately went back to his dream, but he decided that was a bad idea when a certain area down south grew a whole lot tighter.

"…Sasuke? Damn it, Sasuke! Wake up!"

Something hard shot a stabbing pain into his side. Sasuke grunted and slowly blinked, his eyes adjusting to the bright light of the day.

"Nnngh?"

Sakura sighed, ignoring the pain that was throbbing in her big toe. "Good. Pervert's up, we can go." Sasuke slowly sat up as Naruto squatted next to him.

"What… what happened?" Sasuke asked, wincing as he rubbed his temples, but finding a sore spot.

Naruto glared as Sakura and Hinata walked away, Sakura's angry voice rambling on and on as she paced back and forth. "Sakura caught you watching her bathing. What's wrong with you? You of all people should know not to do that! Jeez, and they call _me_ a dead-last."

Sasuke frowned. "I wasn't watching her!" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right. And you just _happened_ to stumble across Naked Sakura bathing in the waterfall?"

"Yes!" Naruto snorted, crossing his arms. "You and Hinata were arguing and I couldn't find Sakura, so I asked you-"

"Yeah! And I told you she was down by the waterfall!"

"You didn't say she was bathing!"

"Well you should've- oh. Heh heh right," Naruto said, blushing a bit and smiling nervously. Sasuke glared at the blonde.

"I found the fall, but couldn't find Sakura. I was about to come back, when she just suddenly appeared from the water?"

"Appeared? As in 'Poof'?"

"No dobe. She was under water. I saw that she was naked and tried to hide, so she _wouldn't_ think I was watching her- WHICH I WASN'T. I guess she noticed me, and all the sudden she punched me! And then I woke up here. What are you laughing at?"

Naruto was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of his eyes and he was clutching his stomach as he lay in the fetal position. Sasuke glared as the fox boy howled with laughter, occasionally gasping for air between guffaws.

"You… that was… the funniest… thing… I've ever… heard in my entire… life!" Naruto managed. Sasuke frowned, the laughing boy seemed to be oblivious to his Uchiha Death Glare.

Sasuke snorted, crossing his arms as he stood up. "Put the fire out," he growled, heading for the path. Sakura and Hinata saw that the boys were leaving, and followed the crabby nineteen year old while Naruto caught up.

* * *

"And then Neji-nii-san got mad at me for waiting up for him!" 

Sakura laughed. "Well I'm not surprised. He was probably embarrassed that you knew about him and Tenten."

Naruto threw up his hands in frustration. "I don't get it! You guys keep saying stuff about 'Neji and Tenten'! What's that supposed to mean?"

Sakura and Hinata smiled at each other knowingly, which only annoyed Naruto even more. "How can you not see it, Naruto?"

"See what?"

"Really, Naruto-kun, everyone else sees it."

"Sees what!"

"Even Tsunade-sama sees it."

"SEES WHAT!"

Sasuke jumped down from a tree right in front of the trio, causing all three to gasp and nearly fall over in surprise.

**How did he do that! **Inner Sakura shouted after falling over.

_I don't know. That was-_

**Amazing!**

_((Sigh)) Yeaaaaah- wait what? No. We're not supposed to think that was amazing, he's annoying! And a pervert! And a…_

"Show off…" Sakura said with a snort, crossing her arms.

"I didn't even notice you in the trees!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke rolled his eyes in an I-can't-believe-I'm-stuck-with-these-losers way.

"Exactly. You three are so sucked up in Hyuuga and Tenten's love life that you didn't even notice me. What if I was Mist or Sand?"

Hinata frowned, looking at her hands clasped in front of her. "You're right, Sasuke. Gomen, I should've been paying better attention. I'm sorry for making you fear for Sakura-chan's life." She added the last part with a smirk, but still kept her eyes down. Even though those ivory eyes were down on the ground, Hinata knew that Sasuke was bright red, and probably Sakura as well.

"Wha- what? No, I didn't mean it like- I was just… she's our charge… and you were-"

"Whatever Sasuke. We get it," Sakura snapped, pulling Hinata with her past the Uchiha.

Sasuke snorted. "Girls… Coming dobe?"

Naruto looked up, snapping his fingers. "Now I get it! It's love!"

Sasuke was taken aback, his breath getting caught in his throat. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

Naruto grinned. "Love! You know- roses, dates at Ichiraku, walks on the beach, holding hands… that's what I couldn't see! It's so obvious!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Those sneaky glances, always having to be her sparring partner, never letting her fight so she wouldn't get hurt, getting jealous when guys flirt with her! It all makes sense now!" Naruto shouted as he and Sasuke walked down the path. Sasuke's face was bright red, did Naruto see something between him and Sakura that he hadn't? No, that couldn't be, he was Uchiha Sasuke! And if Naruto saw something, EVERYONE had to. So, Sasuke decided, there was no way Naruto saw anything romantic between he and Sakura. Because there wasn't anything to begin with. Right. Exactly.

"…Always finding excuses to touch her, pretending to get annoyed when she gets hurt, but secretly worrying, I can't believe I never noticed!"

"Naruto, you don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing going on between me and-"

"Yep, Neji's in love with Tenten! They're always flirting. They'll get married for sure," Naruto said, a confident smile adorned on his face.

Sasuke face faulted. "Hyuuga and… Tenten?"

Naruto looked at his best friend like he had another head (a/n: which, if I do say so myself, wouldn't actually be so bad- I mean think about it, that'd be like **2** Uchiha Sasukes. faints) "Um… hai. Who else would I be thinking about, teme?"

"…"

"Are you feeling alright? Because you're really scaring me."

Sasuke kept his focus forward, trying to act calm and collected, while in all actuality, his thoughts were running amok inside that gorgeous head of his. He nodded. "I'm… I'm fine. I just thought you were talking about… never mind."

"About… who?" Naruto asked, growing confused again.

Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. Just forget it, okay?"

"No. Who were you talking about?" Naruto asked. "What other couples are there? Everyone already knows about Ino and Shikamaru. And Hinata-chan and I have only been on a few dates… Who else is there? ((gasp)) Sakura-chan?"

"No."

"Do you like her?"

"Like her? Sure, she's a good teammate-"

Naruto rolled his eyes like Sasuke was the biggest moron on the world. "No not like that! I mean do you _like_ her? You know, _like _like."

"'_Like _like'?"

"Yeah, as like more than a friend. Like a ((cough)) girlfriend…"

"Sasuke, Naruto! We're here!" Sakura shouted, waving her arm to the boys far behind her. The boys were in front of the gates in seconds.

"Remember," Sasuke said. "Hidden Falls Village isn't really enemies with Sound, but it'll be a good idea to keep a low profile."

Naruto snorted. "Oh yeah, like we can do that. We've got a girl with pink hair, a girl with white eyes, Mr. Stick Up His Ass, and a this attractive man!" Naruto said, pointing his thumbs at himself. "There's no way we'll be able to keep a low profile. The ladies will be all over me…"

Sakura snorted. "Not if you wanna go on another date with Hinata-chan, they're not." Naruto lost his 'Bachelor of the Year' pose and walked through the gates, mumbling about the unfairness of being so attractive, yet not allowed to do anything about it.

"We're just here for the night. We'll leave first thing in the morning tomorrow," Sasuke whispered as the group walked in to the Hidden Falls Village, looking at all the different street vendors and gaping at the amazing waterfall that was on one side of the village.

"No wonder it's called Hidden Falls," Naruto said. "There's waterfalls everywhere!"

"They're so beautiful," Hinata said.

"Just like you," a voice said. "What's your name pretty lady?" Everyone turned around to see a tall brunette boy staring at Hinata, his friends either staring at her as well or Sakura.

"U-um… my- my name…?" Hinata said with a blush. The boy laughed.

"You're cute," he said. "You got a boyfriend?"

"Back off, buddy!" Naruto snarled, stepping in front of Hinata. "She's with me!"

The boy smirked and then looked over at Sakura. "And who is this fallen goddess?" he asked, taking her hand and kissing it, angering the Uchiha behind her.

"I- I-"

"Who are you?" the boy asked the person who was now standing in front of Sakura.

Obsidian eyes glared. "You don't wanna know. Now I think you should leave us alone."

A boy with dark hair that almost looked blue snorted. "Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do if we don't?"

The group of boys was answered by the Sharingan and a dozen Narutos. All of them in battle stance.

Sakura and Hinata sweat dropped. "So much for keeping a low profile…"

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! I was busier than I thought I'd be and didn't get any writing time in until today, so I went on a writing rampage. And it's finally ready! Yay! 

Please review! It would make my day!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Sorry for the long update… like I said, it's like a life game of rock-paper-scissors, where school is the rock and fan fiction(dot)net is the scissors, but some reason whenever I play, life always picks rock. But occasionally I'll get paper, which is free time, and that wraps school up and throws it out the window. Today, I got paper. My that was metaphorical wasn't it? You can thank my communications teacher for that…

Oh yeah, and I just realized that I never really explained what season it is. I'm thinking it's mid-autumn, like mid to late September, maybe early October.

* * *

**.:Chapter.Five:.**

The sight of two severely pained males dripping with sweat and some blood seemed to startle the motel clerk. But the two beautiful women behind the young men calmed the clerk down. He smiled nervously, but only two met his smile. The others were scowling and muttering curses.

"Uh… can I help you?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as Sasuke snorted, but then smiled at the man in his mid- thirties. "Yes. We- my friends and I- would like two rooms, please."

"What?" Naruto shouted. "We'll be fine in _one_ room-"

"Naruto, if you think Hinata and I are sharing a room with you you're in for a rude awakening…" Sakura glared, cracking her knuckles as Naruto's blue eyes widened.

"TWO ROOMS PLEASE!" he shouted quickly.

"Alright! Well, welcome to the Nakahara Motel. My name is Juro. Now let's see…" he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose a little higher as he scanned through several cards. Sasuke took in the man's light brown hair in a short ponytail, noticing that the man had tried- and failed- to cover up his receding hair line. He snorted; Sasuke didn't like this weird little man. Why was he looking at Sakura and Hinata like that? There wasn't anything special about them. Sasuke frowned. When he got back he was definitely telling Tsunade to only team him with males from now on. Females only distracted, and unless that was the point of the mission, it became a nuisance. Sakura would have to find new people to team with…

**No she won't. SHE'S NOT COMING BACK!**

_Oh yeah. Forgot about that._

**-snort- Yeah, obviously, genius. Which is why you should be making your move!**

_Wh-What?_

**We're never seeing her again. You need to make a move, say one last goodbye, you know. Tell her you-**

_Okay that's enough. I don't feel anything for Sakura. She's just a teammate. A comrade. Maybe if she wasn't leaving I'd consider her to be my friend- not that I'd ever admit it, though…_

"Okay, we've got two rooms left! Rooms 28 and 69. Who wants what?" Juro asked, dangling two pairs of keys in his small, chubby hand. A rough, large one slapped it down.

"We need two rooms next to each other," the man with dark obsidian eyes said, making Juro's knees quake and his stomach tighten.

"U-umm… th-these are the o-only rooms l-left… I'm s-sorry, s-sir…"

"You don't have any other rooms next to each other?" Sakura asked, slowly pushing Sasuke's hand away from Juro's smooshed one.

Juro gulped, quickly glancing at the scary tall man, then rushed back to the box that held each room's card and information. He quickly flipped through cards 1 to 85, but still found only the two mentioned rooms.

"A-ano… there's j-just these t-two. I'm s-so sorry." Sasuke's eyes flashed red, but Sakura pulled him away.

"Calm down, Sasuke-kun," she whispered in his ear, Sasuke's body shivered against his own will. "We'll be fine." The girl with pink tresses turned back around, smiling at Juro, who gulped nervously again.

"We'll just take one room, thank you." Juro nodded, handing one set of keys to Sakura, and placing the other one back on it's hook.

"Let me know i-if I can d-do anything else for you k-kind people…"

The blonde kid poked his head around the corner as the rest of them continued down to the room. "Actually, I was wondering if you carried any instant ra-"

"NARUTO!"

"What? I'm hungry!"

"Dobe."

"HEY, I'M NOT A-"

"Here we are," Sakura said, grabbing the key from her pocket.

Naruto's cerulean gaze looked up at the digits on the light blue door and the boy nearly fell over from snickering so hard.

"Naruto, what's so funny?" Sakura asked.

Hinata's Hyuuga gaze followed Naruto's and the girl gasped. "Oh my…"

"What?" Sakura asked, looking up at the door. "Oh my gosh, Naruto. You're so immature!"

Sasuke looked up at the door number and rolled his eyes.

**69**

Large, bold numbers. And four teenagers going into said room seemed to be screaming one thing. Which caused Naruto to start howling with laughter. Hinata sighed and tried to help the howling blonde up.

Sakura mumbled something, but then brought the key to the doorknob, only she couldn't get the key in the key hole. Sakura groaned, and tried turning it upside down. Still nothing. She turned around and saw that her first two choices were busy. Sakura turned to Sasuke, who's gaze said "What kind of idiot can't open a freaking door?"

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke, it wont go in."

"Let me try."

Sakura's hand stayed on the doorknob as Sasuke's covered hers and the knob, trying to get the key in the hole. "See! It's harder than it looks. Ow, that hurt! Be gentle Sasuke!"

Naruto was now crying, he was laughing so hard. Hearing Sasuke and Sakura say things like that, while they were standing in front of the number 69 was the funniest thing he'd ever heard or seen!

Sasuke rolled his eyes, jiggling the key harder and pushing it in with more effort.

"Sasuke, stop wiggling it around like that! It's obviously not working."

"Well since you know _everything_, what should I do?"

"Just give one hard push. That should do the trick." Naruto was rolling on the ground, his face red and teary, his abdomen throbbing in pain (a/n: you know, like when you laugh so hard your abs hurt?), and his bladder nearly exploding. If those two didn't hurry up, Naruto was sure he'd wet his pants.

Sasuke groaned. "Fine, since you're such an expert at things like this…" Sasuke drew the key back, about to shove it in, when Sakura's thumb slipped down onto the key hole, the little key colliding with the nail.

"Owwwwww!" Sakura wailed, bringing her thumb up so she could inspect it. "You broke it, Sasuke! What happened to being gentle?" she asked as she pulled the chipped part of the nail away.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, then kicked the door open. Sakura grinned broadly, hugging Sasuke, then running into the room. "Hooray Sasuke! Thanks so much, I owe ya one."

Naruto crawled into the motel room, still howling and guffawing as Hinata sighed. "I can't make him stop! I don't see what was so funny…"

"Y-you didn't… hear what they… w-were s-saying? That was… hilarious! S-sixty- nine… h-ha! Brilliant…" Naruto shouted between his laughter.

"He wont stop! What should I do?" Hinata asked. Sakura smiled and walked to the mini fridge, looking for something, then grabbing a piece of paper from on top of it.

"Oh… oh no, I'm so sorry Naruto…" Naruto took a deep breath, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Wh-what…?"

Sakura frowned, her green gaze meeting his blue one. "They say their sorry but they ran out of instant ramen…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

"Nice job, Sakura," Sasuke muttered as he sat down next to the pink haired girl and Hinata.

"Oh shut up Sasuke. How was I supposed to know that he would take me seriously and insist on finding a ramen stand?"

"I have to admit, Sakura-chan, it was pretty clever of you, pretending the price list was a note," Hinata said, blowing on her tea before sipping it.

Naruto grumbled, shoveling more of his beef ramen into his mouth, then downing it with a glass of water. He wiped his mouth, belched loudly, then asked for two more bowls of chicken flavor.

"Naruto-kun, how many bowls have you had?" Hinata asked, setting her cup down and wiping her mouth off politely with a napkin.

Naruto, however, used his sleeve to wipe the ramen broth from his mouth, before plunging his chopsticks into the bowl again. "Umm… I'm not really sure, I lost count at fourteen…"

Hinata and Sakura sweat dropped, while Sasuke frowned and rolled his eyes. When Naruto called the waitress for another bowl, she finally said something.

"Um, excuse me sir, but you've had twenty bowls, I'm afraid that's our limit," the lavender haired girl said, much to Naruto's dismay.

"But I-"

"That's alright, we're finished," Sakura interrupted, laying her money down. The waitress's navy eyes sparkled as she nodded.

"Thank you for coming. Have a nice night," she said, grabbing the money from Hinata's pale hand. Naruto pulled out his wallet, finding he still needed a lot more money, he now stood up, searching is pockets for loose change.

The lavender haired waitress, named Riko, slowly walked over to where Sasuke was sitting, on the far right of the four. Sakura noticed how Riko's nervous navy eyes scanned over Sasuke's body and face before extending her pale hand, long fingers outstretched. Sakura frowned as Riko's hand clasped over Sasuke's when grabbing his money, her hand lingering longer than needed.

**What does that girl think she's doing?** Inner Sakura screeched.

_Why do you care? I thought we were trying to get over Sasuke…_

Inner Sakura waved her hand, rolling her eyes. **Pfft. Remind me why we want to get over him again?**

_Because, I'm getting married and I'm never going to see him again. It wont hurt as much if I don't have feelings for him, _Sakura insisted. She stood up, her hand brushing against Sasuke's, sending shivers up and down her spine.

**Oh yeah. Good luck with that…**

_Oh be quiet. I have to try._

"Come on, let's get back," Hinata said, pulling her jacket around her a little tighter as a light wind blew. They headed down the street, the sun set a long time ago, so now the only lights were those of buildings and street lamps.

Naruto yawned loudly, stretching his arms. "Good Kami, I'm tired."

Hinata yawned as well, rubbing her eyes. "Aa, I can hardly keep my eyes open. I think- whaa?" Naruto stood in front of the Hyuuga, his knees crouched and back to her.

"Hop on my back, Hinata-chan. I'll carry you back," Naruto said. Hinata's face turned bright red and she gulped, her ivory eyes shooting over at Sakura, who nodded. Hinata took a deep breath before hopping on to her crush's back. Naruto held Hinata piggy-back style as they started down the street again. Hinata smiled, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder, feeling comforted by his warmth as a cool autumn night breeze blew.

Sakura herself shivered a bit, the thought of herself bathing in a waterfall like this morning made her toes go numb. It was strange how it was so warm before, but now at night it was cooler. The medic-nin figured it was because there was no sun to warm her.

The group reached the Nakahara Motel, nodding a tired hello to Juro, then continuing to their room. Sasuke flicked on the light switch as Naruto let Hinata down. One by one, they all changed into pajamas. Sakura wore a black fitted t-shirt with pink and red pajama pants, Hinata wore a loose baby blue shirt with dark blue pajama pants. The boys each decided to stay clothed in just t-shirts and their pants, since it would be awkward to be wearing only boxers around the girls.

And then there was their next issue. The quartet stood in front of the queen bed, each with looks of confusion and worry on their faces. They all had the same question in mind…

"Hn. I'll sleep on the couch," Sasuke said, walking over to the small green sofa in the corner, grabbing a down comforter and extra pillow from the closet across from the bathroom.

Naruto grinned, then hopped into the middle of the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. A vein popped in Sakura's somewhat larger than average forehead.

"Naruto," she said through gritted teeth. "What do you think you're doing?"

The blonde just smiled, closing his eyes. "What? I have a bad back! I _have_ to sleep in the bed!"

Sakura crossed her arms as Hinata blushed. "And where do you suppose Hinata-chan and I will sleep?"

There it was. The pervert grin. Classic Naruto. He patted each of the empty sides of the bed on both his sides. "You two ladies are welcome to share with me…"

BAM!

Naruto lay on the ground, laying under a pile of blankets and pillows, a black eye forming. He frowned. "Hey, why does teme get the couch when I'm stuck with the floor?"

Sakura glared from her comfortable position in the bed beside Hinata. "Because Sasuke-kun was a gentleman."

Hinata, who was on Sakura's left, nodded. "Gentlemen get the couch."

Naruto frowned, then batted his eyelashes and brought his hands up to his face. "_Sasuke-kun's a gentleman! Gentleman get the couch! Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun!_" he mocked, trying to look and sound like a girl before slamming his head back down on the pillow.

Sasuke closed the book he was reading, setting it on the coffee table next to the couch he was on, which he had to admit was pretty comfortable, except he was still cold. But he wasn't one to complain, and he was afraid that if he complained he'd lose his title as a 'gentleman.'

But it wasn't the title he was afraid of losing, it was the couch.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura and Hinata. "We should get some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow." Before anyone could respond, he clicked the light off.

* * *

Sakura tossed and turned. She couldn't believe it, she was sharing a bed with Hinata, but she was still cold! And to top it off, she had to use the bathroom. She'd been lying awake for about a half hour, and she knew if she didn't get enough sleep, Sasuke would be on her case for being so tired.

So with a sigh, the pink-haired kunoichi slowly pushed off the covers, shuffling blindly to the bathroom door. Because she'd chosen to leave the room light off, Sakura's jade eyes had to blink several times before they could register to the bright light.

When she was done, Sakura didn't realize what she was doing and clicked off the bathroom light. Wrong move. She was instantly blind. Her eyes wouldn't register to the new darkness for minutes, and Sakura was freezing! She used her hands to try to guide her, but when she nearly knocked over a lamp, she decided to just hope to find the bed.

Finally, Sakura stubbed her toe on one of the legs of the bed. She fingered the mattress, finally finding Hinata. But, why was she on the right side of the bed? Sakura figured she'd rolled on to that side. So she decided to just go to the other side of the bed too, she'd explain everything to Hinata in the morning.

Unfortunately, instead of taking a left, Sakura accidentally veered right, bumping into the couch, thinking it was the bed. She yawned, still half asleep, crawling onto the warm mattress, pulling the blankets up over her. Sakura was about to fall asleep, when suddenly the mattress moved from under her! And why was this mattress so warm? And… since when do mattresses have heartbeats!

"S-Sakura…?"

And since when do mattresses talk?

Sakura blinked several times, her eyes finally focusing on the two dark objects that were shining in the darkness. She gasped quickly, sitting up slightly.

"S-Sasuke! I'm so sorry, I thought you were-"

"Sh," he said, roughly grabbing her shoulder and slamming her back down on to his chest. "Sleep," he mumbled. Obviously the Uchiha boy wasn't fully awake either, and some of his inhibitions were still visiting the sandman.

Sakura was about to protest, when two muscular arms wrapped themselves around her waist, covering her body with warmth. Sakura smiled, closing her eyes and snuggling her face into Sasuke's chest, his nose buried in her pink hair that smelled like strawberries.

The two drifted into Dreamland, not hearing what was going on in the bed just a few feet away…

**Several minutes ago…**

_That's the second time the bathroom door opened! _Naruto thought. _That means they both are out of bed! _Obviously, he too was very tired. Naruto, thinking both girls had left the bed for the taking, quickly ran to it, jumping quickly.

He lay down on Sakura's pillow, pulling the warm blankets up to his nose, when suddenly something next to him scooted closer. Naruto opened his eyes, blinking several times before realizing who it was.

_Ah! Hinata-chan! But… I thought… she was… ah!_

Suddenly, the girl next to him latched her arms around him. "Mmm, Naruto-kun," she mumbled in her sleep after taking a whiff of his scent. Naruto's face turned beet red, then he smiled and wrapped an arm around Hinata as well, pulling her closer to him. The two smiled in their warmth, falling deeper into sleep.

* * *

_Mmmm… this bed is so warm. I wonder if Sasuke-kun would let me bring it with us? Soooo sooooft…_

Sakura rubbed her hands up and down the mattress, suddenly pausing when she felt something circular to the right of her nose. And… why was it surrounded by something so firm? What kind of mattress was this?

And then suddenly, she felt _lub dub, lub dub, lub dub_. Sakura's green eyes shot open.

_Wait if that's a heartbeat, then that was a… eep! _Sakura's face reddened as she realized she was just fingering Sasuke's nipple. She looked down at the black shirt he was wearing, and smiled. They were matching! She smiled slightly, laying her head back down on his broad chest. Damn, that t-shirt was soft! Sasuke's peaceful heartbeat was so calming, Sakura was sure she'd never felt so at peace.

Sasuke kept his eyes closed as he slowly woke up. He didn't hear any voices or movement, so he figured he was the first up. He was about to rest for a few more minutes when something on top of him sighed, then nuzzled deeper into his chest.

_What the fuck was that!_

Obsidian eyes widened as they registered what, or should I say who, was laying on Sasuke. There was the pink haired kunoichi. Wasn't she in the bed before?

And then the Uchiha remembered what happened last night. Vaguely, but he still remembered. And was surprised.

_Why did I do that? Now she'll get the wrong idea for sure. Aarg, this is not how I wanted to spend my last days with her…_

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as Sakura's sea foam green eyes slowly blinked open, Sakura yawned slightly, rubbing her eyes. She lay a hand on the thing below her, then remembered who that was. Before Sakura could even move her head up, Sasuke hopped out from under her.

**How did he do that? **Inner Sakura wondered, pouting a bit. **We were on top of him! There's no way he should've been able to get out. Damn, we were so close to kissing him…**

Sakura looked up to see the Uchiha retreating into the bathroom. When Sakura heard the shower turn on, she realized they wouldn't be speaking of what happened ever again.

With a sigh, Sakura pushed the Sasuke-scented covers off of her petite body as she grabbed her hairbrush, combing the snarls out of her cotton-candy colored hair, preparing for a new day.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok so I know I said to expect updates around Sunday or Monday, but I'm thinking that Monday is easier for me. It just allows me to make finishing touches and add parts. And sometimes I don't even finish until Monday. So I'm thinking weekly updates every Monday. Unless I have a super busy weekend or something. Or I'm really inspired and I write all day. But don't count on it.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thank you all for your reviews! Please keep it up, I love hearing your feedback.

* * *

**.:Chapter.Six:.**

Sakura shivered again. She cursed herself for forgetting to bring a jacket to the festival. Her mind had wandered back to this morning, of course, it had been all day. She crossed her arms when suddenly, a heavy cloth was on top of her shoulders.

Sakura's emerald eyes looked up to her right to see Sasuke looking forward, his hands in his pockets.

"S-Sasuke-"

"You're my charge. It's my fault if you get sick," he replied, stoic as usual.

"O-oh. Arigatou. And, thank you for letting us stay for the festival. It… it meant a lot to me," Sakura said, a deep blush growing on her cheeks. Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes as he looked behind his shoulder to see Naruto and Hinata walking several feet behind them. The pair were whispering, little clouds forming from the heat of their breath.

"We're leaving first thing tomorrow," Sasuke stated, glancing at Sakura through the corner of his eyes. She smiled and nodded, sticking her arms through the sleeves of Sasuke's warm jacket.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's bare arms. "Won't you be cold?" she asked, feeling a cool breeze pick up again.

Sasuke blinked. "No."

"Would you like to buy your girlfriend a flower?" a middle aged woman asked, holding a pink flower in Sasuke's face. Sakura blushed a deep red as Sasuke's eyes flickered. He didn't say anything, but swatted the flower to the ground, walking forward.

"G-gomen," Sakura said to the frowning woman, then running to catch up to Sasuke. "That was rude, Sasuke."

"Hn."

"You didn't have to kill her flower."

"Hn."

"What's with you lately? You're having worse mood swings than Ino-pig at that time of the month!"

"…"

Inner Sasuke glared, muttering things about his masculinity. Sasuke frowned a bit, but decided to keep quiet.

"Oi! Teme! Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted. The pair turned around as Naruto smiled and pointed to a sign. "There's a light show in ten minutes! Let's go!"

Sasuke frowned. "No."

Sakura turned to the Uchiha, grabbing his arm. "Oh please Sasuke-kun!" she shouted, tugging on his sleeve. Naruto smiled and jumped up and down as well.

"Yeah! Please Sasuke-teme! Have some fun for once!"

"Yeah, have some fun!"

"…"

"Oh come on Sasuke-kun. Please! I'll do anything you want!"

Instantly, a naked Sakura appeared in Sasuke's teenage mind. His cheeks tinted red and his black pants tightened. Before he could do anything, Naked Sakura was crawling towards Naked Sasuke. Of course, this made matters worse.

"O-okay…" he mumbled, then suddenly shook his head.

"Hooray!" Sakura shouted, wrapping her arms around the Uchiha. "Thanks Sasuke-kun!"

Maybe it was the fact that Sasuke couldn't get the image of he and Sakura rolling around naked out of his mind, or the fact that the way Sakura was jumping and holding him was rubbing her chest up and down against his, but Sasuke suddenly found himself noticing things about Sakura he'd never noticed before.

Like how her eyes sparkled when she laughed.

Or how her pink hair smelled like strawberries.

Or how wonderful her legs and chest were. And the rest of her body.

Or how delicious her pink lips looked. So soft and tender looking.

Sasuke wondered how her lips would feel on his. Would his lips feel different after theirs connected? Would _he_ be different?

"Let's go!" Sakura shouted, grabbing Sasuke's arm and running with Hinata and Naruto towards an open field. The four sat down, leaning back to get a better view of the sky. Well, three did. One sat normally, a frown on his face as his forearms rested on his knees.

The light show started and Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura cheered. Sasuke was lost in thought. He couldn't understand what he was feeling. He'd been feeling this since the mission started, and he had a feeling that things would only be getting worse.

And of course, it did.

"Haha! I love the rain!" Naruto shouted as the droplets started to fall. Hinata smiled, but shivered and tugged on her jacket tighter, scooting closer to Naruto. Sakura giggled, tilting her face upwards and stuck her tongue out, the cold raindrops falling on her pink tongue. Sasuke couldn't help but stare at the pink-haired girl, water dripping down her body, her tank top sticking to her torso like a second skin. He watched the droplets land on her forehead, slide down it over her long eyelashes, down her cheeks, over her mouth, and disappear as she licked her lips. Sasuke gulped, he didn't know how much more he could take.

Somehow, Inner Sasuke took over, all Sasuke could do was feel his heart beat faster as he leaned forward towards Sakura. Sasuke felt his eyes slowly close as his head lowered towards hers.

"Sasuke?"

"Huh?" Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura staring at him with looks of confusion. Sasuke looked around, then quickly sat back in his original position.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Uh…" Sakura stared at the nineteen year old in front of her with wide eyes. Sasuke glanced around as he gulped, his mind racing.

**Quick, think of something, damnit! **Inner Sasuke shouted, running in circles.

_I'm trying. Just how do you think I should explain this? _Sasuke argued in his mind.

**You were… falling asleep?**

_Hn._

**You _could_ just tell the truth…**

_NO._

**I know! There was a bug on her lips and you were trying to kill it with yours-**

_Idiot._

"I… had to go to the bathroom. And… I didn't think Sakura would be able to hear me tell her over the… noise of the light show. So… I leaned forward…"

**Oh yeah that's convincing.**

_It's better than trying to kill a bug with my lips._

**Only an idiot would believe this.**

"Oh, okay," Naruto said, turning back towards the light show in the sky.

Inner Sasuke sweat dropped.

_Hah. So there._

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?" Sasuke turned towards Sakura, who was fidgeting with the tips of her hair. Sasuke arched an ebony eyebrow, even though Sakura hardly noticed because his ebony bangs were slicked to Sasuke's forehead from the rain.

"I just… I mean you… you're just acting sort of… out of it today. Is something wrong?"

_Yes. You keep licking your damn lips._

Inner Sasuke was rocking and muttering, **Must… stop… licking… lips… So… hott…**

"I…"

Sakura leaned in closer, her eyes widening with worry and curiosity. Sasuke gulped, despite the fact that Sakura's red tank top was clinging to her petite frame, he could now see the rain drops trailing down into the darkness of inside her shirt. An image shot into his head of his own hands snaking down that dark cavern, feeling and rubbing and groping and…

_Oh boy._

"I gotta go," he said bluntly, standing up so quickly that Sakura was almost knocked over. Her ninja reflexes saved her from falling into the mud behind her.

Hinata and Naruto watched from a distance, wondering what was going on between the two.

"Naruto-kun, is there something bothering Sasuke?"

"What do you mean Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, looking down at the ivory-eyed kunoichi.

Hinata bit her lip, glancing over at the pair in front of them. "He's just acting… different."

"Yeah, I noticed. He keeps spacing out. Ever since the mission started…"

"Ahh…" Hinata said, nodding.

"What?" Naruto asked, scooting closer to his crush.

"Well," Hinata said, blushing at their close proximity. "I just wonder if it has anything do with Sakura's getting married."

"Sasuke-teme? Loves Sakura? Naw… that's not possible," Naruto said, waving his arm.

Hinata smiled slightly. "I don't mean _love_ necessarily. Just, I think he cares for her."

Naruto smiled, wrapping an arm around Hinata's shoulders. "Like how I care for you?" he asked, causing Hinata's face to turn bright red.

But then she felt something she'd never felt before. She felt safe, and warm, and loved. And it felt wonderful. Hinata leaned in closer, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder. "Aa. Like how much _we_ care for _each other."_

* * *

_Okay, just get as far away from her as possible. I've just got to clear my head. What's going on with me? Why do I keep losing it around her? _

Sasuke walked quickly towards the back of the field, going through the maze of blankets people were sitting on as they watched the lightshow through the rain.

"Sasuke!"

**Oh no**

"Sasuke-kun! Wait up!"

Sasuke ignored the kunoichi, and continued towards the path which exited the festival grounds. The rain beat harder as Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Sasuke-kun! Stop!"

_DON'T STOP, _he told himself. _WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T STOP. I've got to get out of here._

**Hai. We've got to find a way to ditch her. Try ignoring her.**

There was a thump behind him and suddenly Sakura shouted, "Ah! My ankle!" Sasuke was kneeling next to Sakura in an instant.

Sakura grinned, poking Sasuke's nose. "Ha. Gotcha."

Sasuke frowned, standing up. "Hn. I can't have my charge getting hurt…"

Sakura's heart felt like it was ripped out of her. "Oh… right. Sorry for scaring you," she said, standing up quickly, brushing some mud off of her black pants.

"Hn." Sasuke continued to walking, praying to Kami-sama that Sakura would turn back around.

The fates were against Sasuke tonight.

"What's with you? Lately you've been different," Sakura said, brushing a damp lock from her forehead as she walked besides Sasuke.

"Hn."

"You've been spacing out and you're grumpier than normal. What's wrong, Sasuke-kun? You can tell me."

She said it again. Sasuke-_kun_. How could three little letters do so much to a guy? He hated how she called him that, but he loved her for it just the same.

_Stop it, _his mind ordered. _You know this'll just make things worse…_

But then his mind flashed back to his conversation with Naruto and Hinata a few days ago. _"We'll never see her again…"_

Was he right? As much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke didn't want this to be the last time he saw the little pink-haired girl with a crazy temper. He knew life would be different; a bad kind of different.

He thought about what his inner self had told him yesterday, how he'd never see Sakura again, so maybe he _should _make a move.

The pair stopped under a large tree as the rain poured harder, Sakura continued ranting, and Sasuke continued thinking.

**It's now or never…**

Sasuke chose now.

"…and whenever I talk to you, you're never listening! You're doing it right now! Sasuke, sometimes I swear you don't even-"

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted, sticking his hand over Sakura's mouth, backing her up to the tree trunk. Sakura's eyes widened and her heart beat faster as Sasuke looked at her with that intense gaze of his.

"S-Sasuke-kun…?"

Sakura blushed as Sasuke pressed his hand harder on her mouth. "Stop talking," he ordered. He slowly removed his hand, and Sakura did as she was told.

Ignoring the cold rain pouring down on their bodies, Sasuke brushed a clump of hair from Sakura's emerald orbs. Sakura licked her lips again, causing Sasuke to get even more aroused.

Sasuke slowly closed the gap between the two, his lips pressing against hers. Sasuke brought his hands up so they were resting on Sakura's hips as hers wrapped around Sasuke's neck. Sasuke licked Sakura's bottom lip and Sakura opened her mouth slowly as Sasuke's tongue slid into it.

Sakura moaned as her tongue brushed against Sasuke's and she tugged on his hair slightly, pulling the Uchiha closer to her as he growled low in his throat. Sasuke tightened his grip on Sakura, his head slowly lowering to her neck, sucking and licking the creamy skin.

"Mmm, Sasuke-kun…" Sakura moaned, intertwining her fingers in his dark hair. Her body felt like it was on fire, and her knees were beginning to buckle. Her heart was beating faster and faster as Sasuke kissed rougher and rougher.

Inner Sakura was running around, throwing confetti, cheering, and bowing before a Sasuke shrine. She was dancing and jumping up and down, doing cartwheels and back flips.

Sakura missed the feeling of Sasuke's lips against hers, so she lifted his head back up, instantly sliding her tongue into his mouth. Sasuke smirked as Sakura massaged his head and he rubbed little circles on the small of her back with his fingers.

"Hey, lovebirds!" someone shouted. "It's almost eleven thirty! Let's go!" Sasuke and Sakura broke apart, seeing Naruto and Hinata grinning as they held hands.

Sakura blushed a deep red as Sasuke glared at the blonde. "O-oh, gomen. Come on Sasuke-kun…"

Sakura grabbed his arm, picking the jacket up from the ground it had fallen to when Sakura had wrapped her arms around Sasuke. Hinata giggled and smiled at Sakura, who blushed again, but smiled slightly at Hinata. Sakura motioned towards Hinata and Naruto's intertwined hands and winked, causing Hinata to blush as well. Sakura looked down at Sasuke's hand, wondering what he'd do if she grabbed it.

_Whoa there girl, let's not push our luck, _she thought as they walked down the street to their motel. So Sakura settled on hugging Sasuke's muscular arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Sasuke smirked slightly, glad he did what he had.

But in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but worry about how much this would hurt them when it was time to say goodbye.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the four, two pairs of eyes had been watching them since they'd arrived at the town. 

"_He_ isn't going to like this," one said. His partner nodded, jotting something down as he stood under an umbrella.

"You know what he said," the other said, rolling up his scroll and tucking it in his pocket.

The first man smiled savagely at the couple walking down the street. "Of course."

"If anyone gets in the way, eliminate them."

* * *

**A/N: **Wow, I'm actually updating **_TWO_** days early! Hooray for me! Maybe if you're lucky, I'll update again on Monday. …Maybe. …Probably not. …Don't get your hopes up. 

So can you guess who the two men are? I'll dedicate the next chapter to anyone who guesses right!

PLEASE REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thank you for all of your reviews! Some of you guessed who the men were, and were _half_ correct. So I decided to dedicate the chapter to all of you:

**tiffanylicis**

**.:crimson rose:. **

**Toast Eating Munchkin **(I love your name btw!)

**SilkFedora **(looooove you! Thanks for the wonderful review!)

Okay, and so this morning I had like an epiphany- if that's the right wording for it- and suddenly saw how each chapter would go, and the ending. So I got really excited and have been writing every day! It's all for you guys, so be sure to REVIEW!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Seven:.**

Naruto frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets as the group walked down the road to the gates of the Hidden Falls Village.

"Hmph. I still think that we could've stuck out without paying… Not like that Juro guy was even awake yet."

Sakura smacked her blonde friend on the back of his head. "NARUTO! We couldn't just leave! That's stealing, what kind of ninja would we be if we stole?"

Naruto frowned (a/n: you know, that face he makes in the anime where he like extends his neck, squints his eyes, and his mouth goes way low. Makes me laugh every time) and mumbled, "The sneaky kind."

Sakura rolled her eyes and rubbed her now clothed arms. She'd traded her usual tank top for a different one with sleeves (a/n: like the one in the movie). Even though there was now cloth on her arms, her shoulders were still bare and cold.

Naruto sighed, looking around as they walked out of the gates, working their way to the woods. Soon the path would disperse and they'd be forced to continue by tree-hopping. And Naruto was tired! He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because this time he actually _did_ sleep on the floor, and that wasn't a very comfortable floor! Naruto hoped that Hinata had kicked Sakura a few times in her sleep. He snickered, thinking how fun it would be to kick Sakura and blame it on sleep. He'd have to try it sometime. Maybe on Sasuke too. Heck he could do it to anyone!

Then his feet throbbed again. Naruto frowned, his feet were killing him! Maybe someone would give him a piggy-back ride! He looked at Hinata.

No, he'd probably squish her.

Then he looked over to his pink haired friend. He knew she was strong enough to hold him, despite her 5'5" stature.

But that also meant that she was strong enough to kill him. Which she would most likely do if he randomly jumped on her back.

Naruto's last choice was the Uchiha in front of him. He knew that Sasuke would do one of two things:

1) Kill him just like Sakura would

2) Just ignore him and try to push him off

Naruto smirked, he hoped Sasuke would go for number two.

Naruto launched himself towards Sasuke. "KYAAAAA- AAAAH!" Naruto hadn't even landed on Sasuke before his second scream came, a scream of pain.

"Naruto!"

"My arm!"

The other three stopped as Naruto collapsed on the ground, a kunai sticking out of his shoulder. Hinata and Sasuke instantly went into battle stance, activating their bloodline traits as Sakura looked at Naruto.

"It's wedged in so you can't move it. Whoever did this knew what they were doing," Sakura said, looking at the weapon. She moved to pull it out, but Naruto screamed in agony.

"There!" Hinata shouted, pointing to a tree several feet away. "Wait a minute," she said. "From the trajectory point, they didn't have a perfect shot at Naruto-kun until he jumped at Sasuke, meaning…"

"They're after me," Sasuke finished, whipping out more kunai.

Something whizzed past Sakura's ear. She looked at the thing on the ground, her eyes widening as she grabbed Naruto. "Explosive tags!" she shouted.

The four jumped away in separate directions, Sakura with Naruto, and Hinata and Sasuke on their own. Sakura brought Naruto's head to her lap as he squeezed her hand.

"Sakura-chan…" he moaned. "It hurts to move it…"

"I know," she whispered. "Try not to move your arm. If I pull it out at the wrong angle, it could be rendered immobile. I need you to stay as still as possible…" She went to grab the kunai from the boy's shoulder, when another kunai shot towards her, grazing Sakura's forearm.

"Idiot!" Sasuke heard someone shout. "We're not supposed to hurt the _girl_, just Uchiha."

"I heard it too," Hinata whispered, assuring Sasuke that he wasn't imagining things. She scanned the trees, the ambushers still weren't attacking. What were they waiting for? "Sakura," she whispered, running to the girl and motioning for Sasuke to do so as well.

"I'll stay with Naruto-kun. You need to protect Sasuke."

"WHAT?" the other three said at once.

"They're out to kill Sasuke, but they can't hurt you. We need to split up, I'll work on Naruto-kun's arm," Hinata instructed. The three others were in shock.

_Since when does Hinata take charge? _they all thought at once.

"Did you hear me? Go!" she shouted, pushing the two away, pulling Naruto into her arms.

Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other, then nodded, running off together.

Hinata smiled, pulling Naruto with her under a tree as she tore off his sleeve, to examine his shoulder better.

"Get it over with."

"What?"

"Just do it! Get it over with," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "I need to help them…"

"Naruto-kun, you'll have to be patient, like Sakura-chan said, one false move and you're arm could be paralyzed. I need to be careful and slow."

"You can't just rip it out?"

Hinata sighed. "No, I'm sorry."

"Well, can we at least get back out? I need to see how they're holding out." Hinata did as her crush asked, scooting them out of the tree so they could see Sakura standing in front of Sasuke, who faintly resembled a recently neutered dog (a/n: incase someone doesn't know what that means, it's basically like snip snip to the gonads). The two were slowly circling around, their eyes constantly circling around the wood for any sign of intruder.

"Very clever, using yourself to protect the _boy_," a voice said, causing the hairs on the back of Sakura's neck to stand up. "Too bad you missed a spot…"

A shuriken shot down, Sasuke sensed it and pulled Sakura out of the way. It barely grazed her left tricep, and Sasuke cursed. She shouldn't have been hit!

Sakura smirked, performing the shadow clone jutsu. Now there were four Sakuras standing around Sasuke.

"What do you want from Sasuke?" Sakura shouted.

"He's moving in on property that isn't his," a voice answered, shooting several shuriken down, hitting a Sakura Clone, causing it to disappear instantly.

_Does he mean… me? _Sakura wondered, her mind going back to the previous night.

Sasuke stiffened. _So that's what this is about. Damnit, someone must've seen us last night! _

Sasuke frowned, he wished he could just chidori the whole forest, _that_ would take care of these annoying ninja. But of course, he couldn't. Sakura would kill him. And Tsunade. And she didn't like him that much as it was already. What was it she was going to say to him the day they left? Maybe warn him about getting close to Sakura? Because well… something like _this_ would happen.

"There!" Hinata shouted, pointing to a tree. Sasuke whipped out a shuriken, throwing it quickly in that direction. Sakura did the same with several kunai. A man fell from the tree, shuriken and kunai sticking out of him in various places. He was alive… barely.

Sasuke and Sakura were about to run over towards the ninja, when another jumped down in front of his body, katana in hand. He looked to be almost the same size of the tree. He was huge, and had muscles so large it was disgusting for Sakura to look at. His black hair was short and spiky, but not the attractive way like Sasuke's, it was greasy and uneven, like he'd just woken up. The man smiled a nearly toothless grin, looking Sakura up and down. The few teeth he had left were yellow and rotted. The look in his beady gray eyes made Sakura want to hide behind Sasuke just so he'd stop looking at her, but she knew not to show fear or weakness. So she just glared and raised her kunai.

"So you're the famous Uchiha Sasuke," the man said, finally moving his eyes from Sakura to Sasuke. "I've heard much about you." He turned to Sakura, his eyes roaming up and down her body. "And you too."

Sasuke glared; he'd had enough. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

The man smirked as he saw the shuriken coming at him, he used his katana to deflect it. But that smirk turned upside down when he found out that there was another shuriken hidden beneath. Before the ninja could do anything, the shuriken shot up, hitting him in the chest.

It hit his upper left area, close to his heart. Sakura knew this greatly weakened him and she figured she could finish this off.

"Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu!" she shouted, making a hand seal and then grabbing several kunai, each with a small sack of miniature explosives attached to them. She threw all the kunai towards him quickly.

The man laughed as he collapsed to lower to the ground, clutching his chest. "Is that all you've got?"

Sakura smirked, the tags slowly floating to the ground. She threw another explosive kunai, igniting the tags. They all exploded, causing several trees to fall down on top of the two men. Sasuke quickly grabbed Sakura, dropping to the ground next to Hinata and Naruto, laying on top of all of them, seeing as Naruto wouldn't be able to protect Hinata in his state.

Sasuke finally lifted his head once the noise of the explosion and falling trees was gone. The smoke disappeared, and the chunks of tree, ground, and leaves were settled on the pile of rubble just a few feet away from Sasuke's feet.

Naruto groaned, then rolled out from under Sasuke, Hinata following. So now there was only Sakura below Sasuke. And she found that her body wouldn't let her move. The two just stared into each other's eyes, their noses almost touching.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered, her eyes sparkling.

"WHAT THE? THEY'RE GONE!"

Sasuke sat up with a sigh, walking over towards where Naruto was looking through the rubble. Naruto was right, there was no sight of either of the ninja. No blood, clothing, body parts, weaponry, nothing.

"They must've teleported before the rubble could hit them," Hinata whispered, helping Sakura stand.

"Well," Sasuke said, watching Naruto poke rubble with his toe. "I guess we'll have to rest until you can fix Naruto's arm."

Hinata activated her Byakugan. "I'll look for a river we can rest at."

* * *

"Ow. Owww. OWWWW. **OWWWWWW! **SAKURA-CHAN THAT HURTS!"

The medic nin sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead as she continued to work at Naruto's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to do this. I can't just rip it out, do you know how dangerous that is?" Sakura said, biting her lip as she slowly gripped the kunai handle.

Sasuke sighed for the umpteenth time as he threw yet another pebble into the river. He lay back, tucking his hands behind his head, and found himself staring at the pink-haired girl to his left. He watched her eyes shine with worry and maternal instinct, he watched her small hands press into Naruto's skin, he watched her eyebrows furrow in frustration.

Naruto shivered. "I can't believe you're making me sit out here in my undershirt! I'm so cold I can't feel my hair!"

Sasuke sweat dropped.

"You're lucky that you don't have to be shirtless, Naruto," Sakura snapped, glaring at her blonde patient. Then she grinned. "Actually, yes you do. Come on, you think you're cold now? Just you wait."

"What? You can't be serious!" Naruto shouted in protest. Sakura looked at him with stern eyes and he sighed, looking down at his only source of warmth for his torso. "I can't get it off around the kunai!" he shouted suddenly, grinning.

But Sakura smiled as well. She grabbed another kunai, cutting the shirt on Naruto's right side, so she could just pull the shirt out of the way. Hinata's face turned bright red at the sight of Naruto's tan chest and six-pack. It was hard enough for her to handle him in that undershirt, but this! She was sure she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I-I'm going to go look for… fire wood. I'll build a fire to warm you up, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, standing up quickly. She tugged her jacket around her tightly, looking anywhere but Naruto.

Sakura smiled slightly as she pulled the kunai out a little, but stopping when Naruto groaned. "Arigatou, Hinata-chan. That'll be nice. Sasuke-kun, go help her."

"Hn." Sasuke stood up, brushing the dirt off of his pants and silently followed the Hyuuga girl into the woods, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Okay Naruto," Sakura said calmly. "I'm going to slowly pull the kunai out. I want you to be as still as possible."

"Okay," Naruto said, clenching his fists to prepare himself.

"This is probably going to hurt."

"Just get this thing out of me."

Sakura nodded, gripping the handle, her other hand placed on Naruto's right shoulder, a few inches away from where the kunai was sticking out. "Okay, here I go…" Slowly, she pulled at the kunai, stopping every now and then to make sure it was the right angle.

"Can't you go any faster?" Naruto hissed, gripping onto his pants with all his strength.

"I-I'm sorry, but if I'm not careful, I do something permanent…"

She started to continue, when suddenly there was a noise in the bushes. It sounded like a growl, but also a grunt. And then they could hear something that sounded like running.

Naruto looked up at Sakura, thinking the same thing she was.

_What the hell is that?_

Suddenly, a wild boar burst out of the bushes, headed towards Naruto and Sakura. And it looked angry.

_Holy shit! That thing's bigger than Gamabunta! _Naruto thought. Although their minds were racing, neither shinobi was able to move their body. It was now that Sakura realized she and Naruto had removed their weapons holsters and they were on the other side of the clearing.

_Okay let's think rationally, _Sakura told herself. _There is only one thing to do…_

**I hear ya sister.**

_Wait- what?_

**SASUKE-KUUUUUUUN! HELLLLLLLP! **Inner Sakura shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Sakura shook her head. The boar was coming closer, and while it might not have been the _exact_ size of Gamabunta, it sure was close.

Its dark, beady eyes looked angry. It wanted to kill. And unless Sakura did something quickly, it would.

"Sakura-chan, what should we do?" Naruto whispered quickly, scooting back. Sakura gulped, looking around. No Sasuke to save her this time.

Then she looked down gulping. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, the urgency evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she whispered quickly to the blonde, grabbing on to the kunai lodged in Naruto's shoulder.

"Why- OWWWWWWWWW!"

Sasuke and Hinata dropped the wood they were carrying, racing back towards the clearing. When they got there, their jaws dropped.

Naruto was curled in a ball, clutching his shoulder, muttering curses. Sakura was sitting there with wide eyes, her hands were shaking. And just inches in front of the two was a dead wild boar with a kunai right between it's eyes.

"W-what happened?" Hinata asked, rushing over towards Naruto.

"Y-you said you _had_ to be slow and precise!" Naruto shouted, pointing an angry finger at the emerald-eyed kunoichi.

Sakura shrugged. "Drastic times call for drastic measures. Besides, the kunai was half out. Now come here so I can heal you." Naruto gulped, but allowed the nineteen year old medic to heal him.

Once his shoulder was back to normal, Naruto got another undershirt and his orange jacket from his pack. Sasuke and Hinata re-gathered their wood and made the fire, everyone scooting close to it for warmth.

After an hour, Sasuke decided it was time for them to go. They put the fire out and decided to tree hop the rest of the way. It wasn't long before a new path came into view and after they walked on it for two and a half hours, a certain village came in to view.

Sakura felt her heart drop. This meant that it was almost time to say good bye to her friends. To Sasuke. To freedom. She frowned, but then took a deep breath, turning to Naruto and smiling slightly.

"Let's go. Don't want to keep Ryuu waiting…"

* * *

**A/N: **So they're finally there! What will happen when Sasuke sees Ryuu again? How will Sakura handle being married to someone other than Sasuke? Will Naruto and Hinata _ever_ kiss? All will be answered if you review!

((And I would like to point out that today is **Wednesday**. I updated **4** days early! I think that deserves extra reviews!))

Oh and the answer to who the men were will be in the next upcoming chapters!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Thank you sooo much for all your reviews! Please keep it up. Oh and I'm sorry for taking so long to update, I've been super busy because last week was Homecoming week and so I've been getting ready for that. But now that I'm done shopping, and going to football games, and dancing, I'm free to write! Yay!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Eight:.**

As soon as the four walked in to the Sound Village, everyone knew who they were.

"The one with the dark hair is Uchiha Sasuke- Orochimaru-sama's betrayer…"

"The pink-haired girl is Haruno Sakura. She's Ryuu-sama's new bride…"

"The blonde is Uzumaki Naruto, he's the Kyuubi vessel, and talks more than anyone I know…"

"The black haired girl is the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata…"

"Wow, I didn't think we were so famous in Sound," Naruto whispered. "I mean, I understand teme and Sakura-chan, but I never expected me or Hinata-chan!"

Sakura nodded. "This feels weird. Why are they all staring at us?"

Three pairs of eyes turned towards Sasuke. "It's always been like this. Sound is an interesting village…"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as they rounded a corner. "Whoa…"

Unlike the street by the entrance gate, this street was completely desolate. The only noise was a piece of paper fluttering across the street. They looked behind them and found that the street they just came from was now empty as well.

Naruto grabbed a kunai. "Maybe they all know that there's going to be an attack. Sakura-chan, get behind me-"

"No."

"What?"

"There's no ambush, dobe," Sasuke said, continuing down the street. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure that Ryuu wouldn't want that, because Sakura could be endangered. The streets are always empty like this."

Sakura shuddered, scooting closer to Sasuke. "Where is everyone, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke sighed. "I don't know. I haven't been here in two years, Sakura," he snapped.

"O-oh, gomen. I just… I just thought-"

"What, that because I lived here for a few years I must automatically be a Sound villager?"

Sakura winced. She didn't like the way this was going; she didn't want her last hours with Sasuke to be like this. "I-I'm sorry, Sasuke. I didn't mean it like that."

"Hn. Come on, Tsunade-sama said he lives in the back of the village. This way." Sasuke lead the other three down the street, they all walked in silence. Sakura furiously blinked her tears back, she didn't want the day to go like this at all. Hinata linked arms with Sakura, smiling in a comforting way. Sakura smiled weakly back.

"There it is," Sasuke said monotonously, pointing to a large mansion. Sakura gasped at it's size.

"My… my new home," she whispered, causing Sasuke to frown.

The four slowly made their way up the street towards a front gate where two large men stood. They looked like they ate children for breakfast, their legs were about the same size as Hinata.

Just as they walked up, Hinata tripped on a crack in the street. She fell into a bush just as the guards stopped Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

"We're the nin from Konoha. We're here to deliver Haruno Sakura," Sasuke said, glancing down at the bush Hinata was in. His eyes told her to stay put, just in case. She nodded, and lowered her chakra level, just in case these guards were ninja as well.

"State your names," a guard ordered in a bellowing voice.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uchiha Sasuke." At Sasuke's name, the two men furrowed their eyes.

"So you're the betrayer. Pretty gutsy to come back here, Uchiha." Sasuke remained stoic, his eyes unflinching as the guard loomed over him. Sakura gulped, she thought Sasuke was tall!

Naruto gulped as well. "So um… we'll just be going now! Bye Sakura-chan!" he shouted quickly, starting to turn back around. A large hand gripping his collar stopped him.

The guard grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by the collars, his partner grabbed Sakura roughly by the arm, pulling her into the gates. Sasuke looked over at Hinata, shaking his head, meaning that she should stay where she was. Hinata nodded, she knew exactly what Sasuke was thinking.

_Something doesn't feel right…_

* * *

The guards brought the trio into a large great room, shoving them so hard that they nearly fell over. Sakura grabbed on to Sasuke to keep her balance, out of instinct, he held on to her as well.

"What's going on?" Naruto shouted, glaring at the guards.

"I could be asking these two the same question," a voice said from the shadows. Sasuke and Sakura immediately stepped away from each other, a blush adorned on their faces as Naruto smirked at them.

A tall man with long dark hair in a pony tail emerged from the shadows, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Ryuu…" Sakura said under her breath. A guard jabbed her in the back with the handle of his katana.

"It's Ryuu-_sama_ to you, bitch," a guard hissed.

Sasuke's eyes flashed red, he lunged at the guard.

"Sasuke-kun, no!"

Sasuke stopped moving forward, but not by Sakura's voice. By the hand that gripped his arm tightly. Sasuke turned, seeing Ryuu standing next to him. Sasuke tried to shrug off Ryuu's grip, but Ryuu wouldn't let go. This frightened Sakura, this meant Ryuu was very strong.

"'Sasuke-_kun_'?" Ryuu asked, his hand tightening. Sasuke was now beginning to feel the pressure on his arm. He was amazed at how strong this Ryuu guy was.

Sakura's eyes widened and she blushed lightly. "What? No… just Sasuke. He's just Sasuke…"

"Katsu! Saburo!"

Two men entered the room. Despite the bandages on their bodies, Sasuke recognized them.

"The nin from this morning…" Sasuke said under his breath. Sakura gasped.

"And _you're_ the ninja making a move on the boss's girl." Sakura blushed as Sasuke's jaw clenched. He didn't like the way that sounded- Sakura being 'the boss's girl.'

Ryuu smiled. "So, you can confirm that this is him?"

"Of course, Ryuu-sama," the larger one said. His greasy hair was covered with a bandage, as was one of his beady eyes.

"Sakura," Ryuu said, turning towards the kunoichi. "This is Katsu. Saburo is over there." He pointed to the second man. "They were injured today, and need to be healed. As I've heard, you are a medic-nin."

"But I-"

"Katsu, lead Sakura to the medic wing. Oh and here is her uniform."

The deep feeling in Sakura's gut told her that that uniform was one she wouldn't want to be wearing. She bit her lip and looked to Sasuke.

Katsu grabbed Sakura by the back of the neck. "Oh and Sakura? If you choose to disobey my orders, you'll be punished… by me," Ryuu added with a smirk. Sakura gulped, looking into the box that held her 'uniform.' Her head popped up quickly, her eyes wide.

"No, I don't want to do this," Sakura said suddenly, dropping the box. The second guard, who wasn't holding Sasuke and Naruto, grabbed Sakura by the arms, dragging her in to the room. "Sasuke-kun! Please, don't let them do this! Don't leave me! Naruto, Sasuke-kun, please!"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, struggling to break free of the guard holding him. Then Ryuu nodded towards the guard, who put chakra binds on Sasuke and Naruto.

"Please, don't make me do this," Sakura pleaded. "I want to go home!" Tears were now pouring down Sakura's face. Sasuke's heart lurched. He'd never seen such fear in Sakura's eyes. He knew he couldn't abandon her. Sasuke tried to pull away from the guard, Naruto did as well. But they were struck by the back of the guard's katana.

Naruto dropped to the ground, falling unconscious quickly. Sasuke hit the ground, but didn't fall unconscious right away. Everything was black, but he heard Sakura scream, then yell, "Please don't leave me!"

_Sakura…_ Sasuke thought. _I've got to get up. I've got to help her… _

"Sasuke-kun!"

_Sakura…_

* * *

Sakura was pushed into a plain white room. In a corner was a cabinet fillet with various medical books and supplies. There was also a check up table next to a lamp. Against one wall was a door, Sakura figured it was a bathroom.

"Change in here," Katsu ordered, pushing Sakura into the bathroom. "And when you're done with me, you get Saburo," he added with a laugh.

Sakura sighed as the door shut, trying not to shake. She bit her lip, she refused to let Katsu hear her cry. She walked up to the sink, running cool water and splashing some on her face so the redness from crying would go away. She also hoped that maybe she would wake up, realizing that this whole ordeal was just a horrible nightmare. But alas, the water did nothing but dribble down her shirt, leaving it damp.

Sakura slowly slipped into her 'costume', feeling the tears begin to fall again. _I can't believe I've been lowered to this…_

Inner Sakura didn't say anything. She hadn't spoken for several minutes. Sakura was scared. She couldn't remember a time with out her inner self, she felt so alone.

Sakura sniffed, looking at herself in the mirror. She wore a short nurse dress, it came down to about her wrists when her arms were straight, barely covering her backside. The collar of the dress formed a v-neck, stopping just a few inches above Sakura's belly button. The chest of the dress was so tight that Sakura's breasts were practically popping out of it. She also wore white tights that came up to her mid-thigh, and white stilettos. She had to pull her hair in to a bun and found two white chopsticks with red detail to hold the bun up.

Sakura gave herself a once over. She didn't like this outfit one bit. She didn't like how her last moments with Naruto and Hinata and Sasuke ended. She didn't like the Sound Village. She didn't like Katsu or Saburo. She didn't like her new soon-to-be husband.

The banging on the door caused Sakura to jump. "Are you done yet?" Katsu growled.

Sakura took a deep breath, saying a quick prayer to Kami, and then searching the bathroom once more for any means of escape. When she found none, she decided to open the door.

Katsu smiled immediately, looking Sakura up and down. He sat shirtless on the check up table. Sakura gulped, attempting to pull the dress down more, but failing to do so. Katsu just laughed. Sakura walked over to the sink, washing her hands nervously.

Sakura concluded one thing as she dried her hands:

She just didn't like her life anymore.

* * *

Sasuke groaned, slowly listening to his surroundings. He breathed in, feeling pain shoot up and down his body. _Wh-what happened?_ he wondered.

All he could remember was Sakura screaming and then-

Sakura.

Sasuke's eyes shot open, to find he was in a dimly lit room. The walls were some kind of stone or concrete. His arms and legs were bound by handcuffs and his shirt was torn to shreds. Turning to look around more, Sasuke noticed the bruises and cuts all over his body.

"I think they beat us when we were knocked out," a voice said. Sasuke looked to his right to see Naruto a few feet away. He was in the same condition, arms and legs bound, beaten, shirt nearly shredded.

"Probably to weaken us when we woke up," Sasuke said, his voice raspy like Naruto's. Sasuke sighed, his body ached, his head was throbbing, and Sakura's whereabouts were still unknown.

"S-Sakura…" Sasuke managed to whisper as he craned his neck to look around.

Naruto nodded. "Who knows what they're doing to her. And Hinata-chan is still MIA…"

"We've got to get out of these," Sasuke said, gesturing to the handcuffs. Naruto nodded again.

"I've been trying for about a half hour. They're some kind of strong metal. I can't break them on the wall or floor, and I have nearly no chakra left," Naruto explained as Sasuke examined his bindings.

"I think it's tungsten. It's the strongest metal in the world," Sasuke explained.

"Great."

"Hn. We should probably save what's left of our chakra for when we have to rescue Sakura," Sasuke concluded.

After about twenty minutes of banging the cuffs on every surface around them, both boys were exhausted. They leaned back against the wall again, panting.

_This is hopeless…_

Suddenly, a small white light shone through. It ran up along the wall over towards Naruto, then Sasuke. It swirled around a bit, then slowly crept up to a few feet away from Sasuke, trailing up the wall towards a small hole.

"Hey, didn't Sakura-chan teach Hinata-chan how to do that with a mirror last month?"

"Hinata?" Sasuke shouted.

There was a rumble noise, and suddenly one of the bricks in the wall disappeared. In popped Hinata's head.

"Hinata-chan!"

"Konichiwa," Hinata whispered with a smile.

"Hooray! We're-"

"Naruto-kun, hush!" Hinata whispered. "You need to whisper, we don't know who can hear us."

"She's right."

"How did you find us?" Naruto asked.

"I've been searching each room with my Byakugan. I used the mirror to get your attention," Hinata explained, slowly pulling away another loose brick. "I think I can get through. Look out."

Hinata sucked her breath in so she was as small as she could get, slowly slipping through the small hole. Her tiny body barely passed through, and Hinata landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"Great job, Hinata-chan. Now we've just got to figure out a way to get out of here," Naruto whispered, trying to bang his handcuffs on the stone ground again.

Hinata smiled, pulling something out from her pocket. "Here, let me try." She pulled out her small tools, sticking them in side the key hole, then she twisted one hand and soon the cuffs clicked open. Hinata moved to Naruto's ankles and undid the cuffs there as well. Sasuke and Naruto's eyes widened as she moved over towards Sasuke, working just as efficiently.

Sasuke rubbed his bruised wrists. "How did you do that?" Naruto asked.

Hinata smiled meekly, holding up two bobby pins. "Tsunade-sama taught all of Konoha's kunoichi when we were fourteen. Oldest trick in the book, Naruto-kun. I've carried five bobby pins with me ever since."

Naruto and Sasuke sweat dropped.

* * *

"S-So," Sakura swallowed hard- no she had to be brave. She wasn't weak. "Where should I start?"

Katsu grinned, hopping off the table. "I was hoping you'd ask." He quickly advanced towards Sakura, who backed away slowly.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?" Sakura asked, wincing when she realized her back was to the wall.

"What?" Katsu asked as he leaned down into the crook between Sakura's neck and shoulder. "You're not married to Ryuu-sama yet, we can still have a little _fun_…"

Sakura pinched her eyes shut. She couldn't believe this was happening! Ryuu was bad enough, but Katsu? She wouldn't lose her virginity like this. Sakura was saving herself.

_For Sasuke…_

"No!" Sakura shouted, kneeing Katsu in the crotch. He bent down, his eyes pinched shut.

"You little bitch," he hissed. "You're going to pay…" Katsu punched Sakura in the stomach twice, then knocked her to the ground.

"Get away from me!" Sakura shouted, smacking Katsu's hand. He laughed, grabbing on to Sakura's collar, tearing off part of the sleeve. Now Sakura's right sleeve was just the strip of the bottom, her shoulder was bare and her breast was barely covered. Sakura used her stiletto-covered foot to kick Katsu in the face, shoving the heel into his face hard. Katsu groaned, hitting Sakura with the back of his hand, bruising her lip and causing her cheek to bleed. Sakura's head hit the wall as she fell hard, she thought she felt something warm trickle down her head.

Katsu slowly made his way on top of Sakura, bringing a kunai down to her neck. Sakura tried to swat it away, but it just ended up scratching from her collar bone to her left shoulder. Sakura hissed in pain, then spit in Katsu's eyes. He leaned back to rub the saliva away, and Sakura's fist connected with his face, all the chakra left in her absorbed into that punch.

Sakura saw her escape and took it, she pulled the heels off, ignoring how her hair fell from the mess in the chopsticks. She bolted out the door, racing down the hall, tears pouring down her face.

"Come back here!" Katsu shouted as she rounded a corner. Sakura never looked back.

She felt her body grow tired, her legs cramping up. It felt like she'd been running up and down stairs and halls for hours.

Sakura was about to fall to her knees, give up, let Katsu take her, when someone grabbed her, covering her mouth with a strong hand.

"Don't scream," the person whispered.

* * *

**A/N: **OMG I actually updated on time! You all better review, because you've gotten **3** chapters early!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Thank you all for your fabulous reviews! I loved reading them and hearing from you. Please keep it up. And I'm sorry for a delayed update, I got a case of writer's block, but I'm better now!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Nine:.**

Sakura's heart pounded in her chest as the person tightened their grip on her waist. Sakura just blinked, she couldn't think properly.

"Well?" the person asked, tightening their hand that was covering her mouth. Sakura nodded her head, and the person slowly removed their calloused hand.

Sakura turned around to face her captor and wrapped her arms around their neck. "Sasuke-kun!" she whispered, tucking her face into his neck. Well this sure surprised the young Uchiha. "Thank goodness you found me."

"Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto! Hinata-chan!" Sakura said, hugging the other two as they walked out of the cell door cautiously.

"Sakura-chan, don't take this the wrong way, but… what are you wearing?" Naruto asked. Sakura looked down and blushed, trying to cover her chest and pull the dress down better.

"I… they needed… Katsu wanted…" Sakura muttered, Sasuke clenched his jaw.

"Katsu did this to you?" he asked. Sakura bit her lip, trying to get the feeling of his hands on her body out of her mind.

Naruto frowned as Hinata put her jacket over Sakura. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, we're getting you out of here."

Sakura nodded, trying to heal herself with what little chakra was left in her. She tended to the worst wounds, and hoped the other ones would be alright. "We've got to leave now," she said.

The other three nodded, looking down halls. They lowered their chakra levels and Hinata activated her Byakugan, searching corners and rooms in case.

"No one so far," she whispered as they rounded another corner. Hinata only had three kunai, so she and Naruto and Sasuke each took one, and Sasuke would protect Sakura.

"Ryuu-sama!" a voice called out from down the hall. "She's gone! Sakura-san has escaped!"

"So have the two nin from Konoha," another said. "What should we do?"

"Find them, I'm sure they're together. Eliminate Uzumaki, and bring me Sakura- don't harm her at all. If there's a single scratch on my bride, you'll pay," Ryuu said.

"And what about Uchiha?" the first voice asked.

"Bring him to me as well. He needs to learn that there are certain things he cannot touch. And I think I know just how to do it…"

* * *

Sakura zipped up Hinata's warm jacket, happy that it was longer than her dress, so she was covered better. She resisted the urge to grab on to Sasuke when Hinata stopped them suddenly. 

Hinata held a slender finger up to her lips, then gestured to a hallway several feet away. Several ninjas were walking down the hallway that was perpendicular to the one they were in. Sasuke and Naruto pushed the girls into a small cove where a door was. Hinata and Sakura leaned with their backs to the wall as Sasuke and Nartuo's chests pressed up against theirs. This caused both girls to blush severely.

Naruto and Sasuke kept their eyes to the left, intently focusing on the hallway where the ninja guards were. Sakura and Hinata, however, couldn't stop staring up at the boys pressed into them. Then they looked over at each other, blushed deeper at being caught, then smiling. Sakura held in a giggle as she and Hinata turned back to their crushes, who were still apathetic towards the two kunoichi.

Finally, they were sure the ninja were gone, and Sasuke motioned for Hinata to do a quick scan of their surroundings. When she found nothing, they sighed in relief.

"Okay," Sasuke said quietly as they moved down the hall quickly. "We have to find the quickest exit. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"We should split up," Hinata suggested. "That way we can cover more ground."

"We'll meet at the gate entrance at sunrise, okay? That's in almost ten hours. If you get there sooner, just wait, but make sure you go unnoticed," Sasuke instructed. "Naruto, Hinata, you two go to the north side of the building, Sakura and I will go south."

Hinata and Naruto took a left as Sasuke and Sakura took a right. Hinata blushed as Sakura winked at her when she waved good bye. Hinata nearly fainted at the thought of her and Naruto being all alone to watch the sunrise together.

"Hinata-chan are you okay?" Naruto asked, noticing the girl's strange behavior.

Hinata's face reddened. "A-ano, I was just… thinking. I'm fine…" she managed to whisper.

They walked past a fan and Hinata suddenly shivered, remembering that she gave her warm jacket to Sakura and she was now only wearing a tank top. Naruto eyed what she was doing, and paused briefly.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?"

Naruto put his pack on again, handing the orange sweatshirt to Hinata. When she just stared at it, Naruto smiled, placing it in her hands.

"Here, I'm warm," he insisted. "You can wear it."

"A-are you sure?"

"Duh."

Hinata smiled and blushed a pretty pink as she slid her arms through the long sleeves that covered her hands. She put her pack on as well, sniffing the cloth collar when Naruto wasn't looking.

_Kami he smells sooooo good…_

Naruto turned around, noticing that Hinata had stopped walking and was several feet behind him, still in the middle of the hallway, while he was already in the next hallway intersection.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"That's him!" a voice shouted. Before Naruto or Hinata could react, three guards had surrounded Naruto.

_Uh oh, _Naruto thought as a guard grabbed on to Naruto's wrists, pinning them behind his back. Another took his pack and kunai and the third disappeared.

"Hey, cut that out! That's mine!" Naruto shouted, kicking his feet at the guard who was looking through his pack. The guard holding his wrists down tightened his grip.

"Hey, I found another," the third guard said, appearing with Hinata. He grabbed on to the top of her head, her feet dangling above the ground as chakra binds were placed around her wrists after the other guard took her pack.

"She wasn't here before," the guard holding the packs said.

"That doesn't matter," the one holding Naruto snapped. "She's trespassing. And she's from Leaf, she's probably one of them. We'll take her to Ryuu-sama as well. He'll decide what to do with her."

"If he doesn't want her, do you think he'll let me have her?" the one holding Hinata asked, a smile on his face.

"Don't you touch her!" Naruto shouted again, trying to break free of the guard. "I swear when I get my hands on you I'll-" The guard hit Naruto in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious and slinging the shinobi over his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped as they removed her weapons holster, then continued down the hall. Naruto draped over one guard's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and Hinata dangling from the other guard's hand.

* * *

Sakura's heart was beating so fast she was afraid Sasuke could hear her. Every time she heard a noise or felt a chill, she immediately thought it was Ryuu. Sasuke noticed this when a door several halls away slammed shut and Sakura immediately hid behind Sasuke.

Sakura blushed under Sasuke's obsidian gaze. She stepped away from him quickly, removing her hands from the back of his navy shirt. She kept her gaze down, clearing her throat nervously before speaking.

"G-gomen… I'm just a little antsy," she whispered, a deep red blush crawling up her face. Sasuke arched an ebony brow.

"I keep thinking I can hear him, feel him breathing my neck," she whispered, not noticing how angry Sasuke got at this. "I'm afraid of… of what he'll do if he finds me again…" her voice was so low that Sasuke had to really strain to hear the kunoichi before him.

Sakura closed her emerald eyes, a single tear rolling down her cheek, her cheeks turning light pink at this confession. Sasuke's once hard eyes widened, and surprisingly softened a bit.

_Great, _Sakura thought, _now Sasuke-kun thinks I'm a weakling…_

**We're not a weakling! **Inner Sakura argued, **we're just a little scared… **She shuddered at the thought of him touching her. Real Sakura involuntarily did the same as her inner, then jumped at the feeling of a calloused hand on her cheek. Sakura gasped, but still didn't open her eyes, thinking it was all a dream.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered. Slowly, her breathtaking sea foam-green eyes opened, meeting Sasuke's onyx ones. "I swear, I won't let him touch you ever again. If he does, he's going to regret it once I get my hands on him."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as Sasuke's thumb carefully stroked the tear away. "S-Sasuke-kun…" she whispered, her eyes slowly closing again as Sasuke lowered his head to meet hers.

Their eyes closed in unison as their lips met for the second time. Sakura slowly moved her arms around Sasuke's neck as his slipped around her waist, pulling the pink-haired girl closer to him. Sakura lifted up so she was standing on her toes so Sasuke wouldn't have to bend as much, letting out a soft moan as his tongue entered her mouth. When their tongues rubbed against each other, a low growl came from Sasuke's throat, arousing Sakura even more. She weaved her fingers through his dark hair, moaning again as his fingers began to make little circles on the small of her back.

"Sasuke-kun…" she moaned as they parted for air.

_Damnit, I shouldn't have let this go this far, _Sasuke thought. But then all thoughts went out the window as he looked into Sakura's alluring eyes. He pulled her back into his arms, their tongues doing a number again, and then as quickly as he had come, he left.

But only technically. Sakura gasped and her eyes shot open when she felt Sasuke trail kisses down her jaw and then her neck, slamming the girl into a wall. Sakura's eyes fluttered closed as she felt Sasuke suck at her neck, a moan emitting from low in her throat. This only provoked Sasuke even more, causing him to move his hands to Sakura's hips, then slowly sliding up until they were nearly over her breasts when they were suddenly interrupted.

Sasuke froze as he felt something sharp poking him in the middle of the back. He opened his eyes quickly and removed his lips from Sakura's succulent neck.

"You'll get away from her if you know what's best for you, Uchiha."

Sakura gasped, her eyes shooting open. She quickly removed her hands from Sasuke's spiky hair down to his own hands, grabbing them tightly. "Sasuke-kun," she whispered.

Sasuke slowly released Sakura's hands, taking several steps back, raising his hands next to his head. The man in front of him smirked.

"Good, Sasuke. I never knew you obeyed commands so well… or maybe it's not out of obedience, but fear."

Sasuke glared. "I'm not afraid of you, Ryuu."

Ryuu glanced at Sakura and smiled. "That may be, but I know you care for my little cherry blossom. Don't try to deny it. Who would've thought that one little girl could hold all the leverage over Uchiha Sasuke?" Sakura gasped as Sasuke's fists clenched.

Ryuu turned to the guard who held the katana to Sasuke's back. "Let's go. Oh and Sasuke? You'll do as I say if you don't want Sakura to get hurt."

Ryuu turned to leave and Sakura grabbed on to his arm. "Please, Ryuu-sama, let him go!"

Ryuu laughed. "Why should I? He's a prisoner and he needs to be punished. Surely you understand that my dear."

Sakura bit her lip, looking over at Sasuke with pained eyes. "If you let him go," she said quietly, "I'll do anything you want."

Sasuke glared. "Sakura, don't be so stupid-"

"Anything?" Ryuu interrupted. Sakura blinked back tears and leaned in to Ryuu, a hand on his shoulder as she pressed her mouth to his ear.

"Anything," she whispered. Ryuu smirked, looking down past the jacket, seeing her nurse costume. He brought a hand down to her back, pulling her towards him. Before doing anything, Ryuu shot a glance at Sasuke, making sure he was watching.

When he saw that he was, Ryuu bent down to his future-bride and kissed her. Sakura made a surprised noise, and kept her eyes open as he licked her bottom lip for entrance. Ryuu grew annoyed at her lack of movement, she still hadn't returned his kiss!

He pulled away. "It's either you or him, Sakura-hime," he hissed. Sakura flinched at the suffix. "One of you is going to pay."

Sakura looked over at Sasuke once more, his eyes showed pain and anger and jealousy. Her eyes blinked once, showing him that she was sorry, but she knew what had to be done. Before Sasuke could do anything, Sakura leaned up back to Ryuu, opening her mouth to him and wrapping her arms around him. Ryuu smirked, then stuck his tongue into her mouth. Knowing it would anger Sasuke, he slid his hands down to Sakura's rear, then massaged the sides of her thighs, and then making his way back up her hips and waist.

Ryuu pulled away again, licking his lips and looking over at Sasuke teasingly. He smirked when he saw the Uchiha's jaw clench, whether on purpose or not, it made Ryuu feel superior seeing how angry Sasuke got.

He grabbed Sakura by the arm, leading her down a hall, then motioned for the guard and Sasuke to follow. Sakura stopped alarmingly.

"But… you said he could go!"

Ryuu smiled, stroking Sakura's cheek with his thumb. "And he will, but you never specified _when_. He'll go when I feel is the right time, and that won't be for a while, my dear."

"No!" Sakura shouted. "You liar! I hate you!" She began to pound her small fists on Ryuu's chest, but he grabbed them with ease, holding her arms in place.

"Now calm down, Sakura," Ryuu said, his voice stern as he held his face inches away from hers. "I don't want to have to punish your precious Sasuke-kun more than I need to. If you don't want him to leave here alive and well, you'll need to do as I say. Understand?"

Sakura looked over at Sasuke, who was frowning, his eyes sorrowful. He couldn't believe he'd gotten Sakura into this mess. "H-hai," she whispered.

Ryuu smiled. "Let's go." He lead Sakura and Sasuke to a room where there was a large king bed with silk and velvet sheets. There was a chair next to the ground that was welded to the ground and there were handcuffs on the chair.

"Sasuke, you'll sit there," Ryuu ordered, pointing to the chair. Sasuke wordlessly sat down. "Sakura-hime, handcuff him."

Sakura blushed slightly, realizing how much Sasuke could see down her dress as she bent over to tighten the handcuffs around Sasuke's wrists. Their faces were centimeters apart, Sakura glanced behind her quickly, seeing that Ryuu had left the room for a moment to go into a joined room.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered. "You don't have to do this. You can get out now."

"I can't leave you Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered in reply. "I won't leave you or Hinata-chan or Naruto. You all are my life. Without you, I'm nothing."

"But-"

"Would you leave here with out me?"

Sasuke sighed in defeat. "No."

Sakura smiled. "Good," she whispered before kissing his lips quickly. "I'll pretend it's you," she whispered before kissing him fully again.

They heard Ryuu coming back, so Sakura quickly pulled away, pretending she was struggling with a handcuff.

Ryuu smiled, looking over at Sasuke, then stopping. "Hey, is that-"

"Ryuu-sama," Sakura said in a sexy voice that caused even Sasuke to grow aroused. "You're not going to keep a naughty girl like me waiting, are you?"

Ryuu smiled down at Sasuke as Sakura slowly slid off the jacket, revealing her torn nurse costume. "Of course not, hime."

* * *

The guard threw Naruto and Hinata into a cold cell, then he turned back around, coming into the room again.

"On second thought," he said, turning towards Hinata. "I'll take _you_ with me."

His hands barely caressed Hinata's quivering arms when suddenly there was a loud smack noise and the guard dropped over.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked, dropping the wooden stool in his hands that crumbled from the guard's head. Hinata gasped, leaping into Naruto's arms.

"Y-you saved me! My hero," Hinata cooed, wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck.

Naruto smiled, wrapping his now chakra bind-free arms around Hinata's small waist. His cerulean eyes met with her ivory ones, neither able to break the gaze. "Anything for you, Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered, causing the Hyuuga girl to gasp slightly.

Then she stood on her tip toes as he lowered his head slowly, their lips meeting simultaneously. Naruto pulled Hinata closer to him as Hinata's fingers reached up into his blonde hair.

The two then pulled away, as Naruto kicked the door open. "Come on," he said, heading out the door. "Let's go find teme and Sakura-chan. Something tells me they're in worse trouble than we were."

* * *

**A/N: **Wow! I actually managed to update on time! Kudos for me! And you have no idea how great this is, I've been soooo busy I thought I'd have to wait almost a whole extra week before updating. You're lucky I'm such a die-hard writer.

So because I worked so hard, you all better review!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **I know, it's been a loooooong time since I've updated. I had **major **writer's block. The past few months I've tried writing bits and pieces for this chapter, but they all turned out crappy. Then last night I was reading some old SasuSaku fanfics and was like "Jeesh I really love SasuSaku." And suddenly a little plot bunny came along and I got a new idea of where I should take this! So, thank goodness for plot bunnies :D

Oh, and thanks for all your reviews! I'm so close to beating my record!!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Ten:.**

Ryuu walked over towards Sakura, a smirk on his face as his eyes wandered up and down her body. Sasuke clenched his fists, but saw Sakura glance at him, her emerald orbs telling him to wait.

What Ryuu did next surprised both Sasuke and Sakura. Instead of going to Sakura, he walked over to the other room again. Before Sakura could even take a step towards Sasuke, Ryuu had returned, a white wedding kimono in his arms.

"Sakura-chan," Ryuu said, "I want my bride to be pure at our wedding, so I've come up with a plan…"

Inner Sakura leapt for joy. **You mean we have more time to escape now?!**

Before Sakura could sigh in relief, Ryuu smirked. "So we're getting married now. Go put this on. I want to have a little chat with Sasuke."

Sakura gasped as Sasuke's eyes widened. Well they sure didn't see that coming! Sakura nodded and gulped as she took the kimono, glancing behind her at Sasuke one last time as she walked into the changing room.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata ran down the hall, their eyes always glancing about them. They had no weapons, so they each broke off one of the legs of the wooden stool from the cell, sharpening one end just in case. Hinata's eyes lit up in recognition when she finally saw the large doors they entered in.

"Naruto-kun!" she whispered, pointing towards the doors. Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and gave it a squeeze. The two listened for anyone coming and waited several seconds before making a quiet dash for the doors.

The pair pushed past the heavy doors, running down the hill towards the fence surrounding the mansion. Naruto cupped his hands and held them out in front of him, towards Hinata.

"Here Hinata-chan, I'll boost you over," Naruto said. Hinata smiled softly, sliding her foot in the holster Naruto created with his hands, setting her hands on his shoulders.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice asked, startling Hinata and Naruto, causing both to fall over. The two stood up, instinctively reaching for the holsters on their thighs, then groaned when they remembered they had no weapons.

Naruto looked over towards his left, the stool legs were several feet away. If they could just distract this guy, he could get at them. Hinata took on a battle stance, readying the little chakra she had left.

The man drew his katana, his eyes flickering as he smirked at the two. "What are you, 15?" he asked.

Naruto glared, then gestured his head towards the stool legs at Hinata. Hinata nodded in understanding. Naruto created four shadow clones, and all five shinobi raced towards the large man. Three of them were immediately shot away when a light flashed from the ninja's hands, causing the clones to disappear with a poof. Hinata dashed towards the wooden stool legs, grabbing one and throwing it towards the Sound ninja. The stake-like weapon landed in the right side of the ninja's chest, but didn't do much harm.

Naruto groaned, deciding it was time to do more. He gathered up a ball of chakra in his hand, sending the rasengan towards the ninja. He shot backwards into a tree, and when the rubble cleared, Hinata threw the second sharpened piece of wood, landing it right into his heart.

Naruto and Hinata didn't have time to check if he was dead, for as soon as the sound of the explosion ended, dozens of ninja raced out of the house. Naruto boosted Hinata over the fence and followed, quickly leaping over.

The two grabbed hands and raced down the streets, making sure to stay in the shadows as they headed for the village gates. "Only a few more hours," Naruto whispered, looking up towards the sky.

* * *

Sakura bit her lip as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She flattened out the creases on the kimono that accentuated her curves and made her eyes glow. She felt beautiful in the white silk garment, but she had always imagined herself wearing this for her wedding to Sasuke.

She pressed her ear up to the door, trying to hear what Sasuke and Ryuu were saying, but all she could make out was their voices. Sakura gulped and opened the door a crack, when suddenly someone banged on the door to the other room. Sakura opened the door enough so she could see out, but Ryuu wouldn't notice.

Ryuu opened the door, shouting "What!"

A skinny man bowed to Ryuu before speaking. "Gomen nasai for interrupting Ryuu-sama, but the other two have escaped."

Ryuu ran a frustrated hand through his hair, groaning loudly. He looked back at Sasuke and then the door Sakura was changing in. "I'll be right with you," he said.

He walked over to the door Sakura had quickly shut when he turned, locking it. "Better to keep you two separated," Ryuu said to Sasuke. "I'll be back."

Sasuke waited a minute after Ryuu left, then popped his hands out of the hand cuffs that Sakura had 'accidentally' locked wrong.

"Sakura," Sasuke said quietly, tapping on the door.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's muffled voice whispered back. "What's going on?"

"Stand back," Sasuke said. "I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Okay," Sakura replied once she was as far away from the door as possible. She turned around when she noticed she bumped into a picture frame, seeing something that isn't normally behind pictures.

Sasuke tried to just turn the knob, but he didn't have enough chakra left in him to turn the strong lock. So he settled for knocking the door down as quietly as possible. One swift kick knocked the door knob away and Sasuke pushed the door open, letting Sakura wrap her arms around him the moment they found each other.

After a few seconds of their embrace, Sasuke pulled away. "There aren't any windows in the other room and we're locked in. We're going to have to figure out how to get out making as little noise as-"

Sakura silenced the Uchiha with her lips, pressing them against his firmly, then pulling away. "Don't worry," she said smiling. She walked over to the picture. "Look…"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow as the pink haired kunoichi took the picture down, revealing an old window that looked like it hadn't been dusted in months. "Let's go," Sakura said, hoisting up her kimono past her knees so she could climb out easier.

However, it wasn't as easy as she'd planned. The fabric kept getting in the way, so Sakura couldn't find a way to hold the cloth away yet still hoist herself up. She gasped when two strong arms lifted her up, pushing the window open.

Sasuke had Sakura stick her head out of the window first, making sure there was no one around. When she found no one, Sasuke flipped her around so her feet were first and Sakura dropped to the ground quickly, rolling her apple green eyes as Sasuke jumped out with ease.

They lowered their chakra when they saw all the ninja around the corner, surveying the damage of the yard and the ninja. The pair decided to go to the other side, where Sakura used her remaining strength to pry two bars of the fence open, leaving enough space for the two of them to squeeze through.

Sakura frowned as one of her sleeves got caught on the bar, she struggled with pulling it free until Sasuke just ripped the sleeve off from the seam on the shoulder. Sakura smacked his shoulder.

"Look what you did!" she hissed. "Now I look ridiculous." Sasuke rolled his eyes as the kunoichi pouted her lips.

"Fine," he groaned. He grabbed hold of the other sleeve, also ripping it from the seam of the shoulder. "Better?"

Sakura gasped and glared at the Uchiha. "No! Not better! I look even worse!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes again as he grabbed Sakura by the wrist, leading her towards the front gates of the village. "At least they're even now."

* * *

Naruto smiled as handed Hinata half a piece of bread, which he'd managed to steal on their way thru the alleys of the market. Hinata ate the bread quickly, hoping to calm her rumbling stomach.

Naruto looked to the sky after swallowing his last bite. He sighed, they only had a few more hours and Sasuke and Sakura were nowhere to be found. The two sat in a tall tree where no one could see them, unless they were actually looking maybe. The blonde noticed the girl beside him shiver, despite the fact she had his sweatshirt on. A sly smirk grew on the Uzumaki's face as he slowly slid over towards his crush, making a yawn and stretching his arms up before slowly lowering his right one onto Hinata's shoulders.

Hinata gasped, but then smiled, reveling in the warmth he brought her. She scooted closer to Naruto, then her heart began to speed up again as a tan finger lifted her chin up so their eyes could meet.

The moment her ivory eyes met his, Naruto's confidence disappeared. He gulped, unsure of what to do now. Hinata's sparkling eyes made him smile sheepishly, and then he lowered his own head.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a smile. Her small hand cupping his cheek, the Hyuuga lifted his head up. Naruto's cheeks burned as he felt Hinata's thumbs stroke the six lines on his cheeks.

"Hinata…" Naruto whispered in return. Hinata smiled then said, "You can kiss me." Naruto grinned and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her small body. Hinata brought her arms around his neck, her fingers brushing against his blonde spiky hair.

Their lips met with equal passion and wanting. Naruto found his courage returning as he slowly opened his mouth to lick Hinata's bottom lip. To both of their surprises, she didn't do anything but open her mouth to him. At first neither was quite sure of what to do, being this was their first time, but as soon as their shy tongues grazed each other, their feelings took over, guiding the two newbies along.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered when they parted. Hinata smiled softly and leaned her head on his chest as they cuddled.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura ran down the streets silently, until Sakura tripped on a chip in the road, causing her to fall forward and skin her knee.

"Ack!" she shouted when she fell. Sasuke sweat dropped. So much for stealthy ninja skills…

"There!" someone shouted. The two looked up, it was one of Ryuu's men. Now there was half a dozen of them heading their way.

"Come on!" Sasuke shouted, helping the kunoichi up. Sakura looked down at her knee and cringed, the kimono was now even more torn and it was stained with blood, plus there was a large bloody raspberry on her knee.

The pair rounded a corner, looking behind them and seeing the men still had a ways to catch up to them.

"We need a plan," Sakura said.

"We don't have time."

"If we don't come up with something, they're going to catch us! We know what they'll do to me, but I can't imagine what they'll do to you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. Sasuke kept his gaze to the corner, waiting for the men.

"We could fight them," he said.

"How? We have no chakra left. I can't even heal my own knee I'm so low!" Sasuke quickly put his hand over her mouth.

"They're coming," he whispered. Sakura pulled closer to Sasuke.

"What're we gonna do?" she whispered.

"I-"

"Psst."

The two looked around quickly, seeing nothing.

"_Pssssst!_"

"Do you hear that?" Sakura whispered.

"Aa."

"Oi, over here!" a tiny voice called. The two looked up and saw two small children, hiding in a crawl space. "Come in here and they wont find you!" the little girl whispered.

Sakura and Sasuke didn't have time to think. The men were getting closer. "Come on, Sasuke!" she pulled the Uchiha's hand as they crawled into the cramped space in the alley.

Sakura held her breath and tucked her face into Sasuke's arm when the men ran past, praying to Kami that they wouldn't be found. Sasuke waited about five minutes before finally deciding they were gone. With the little chakra he had left, he searched and found no chakra but their with in half a mile.

They crawled out, then helped the children as well. "Thank you so much," Sakura said to the children. "You have no idea how much you've helped us."

"Did we save your lives?" the little boy asked.

"Aa."

"Hooray! We're heroes!" the children shouted, linking arms and doing a little dance. Sakura laughed while Sasuke rolled his eyes. The children reminded him of Naruto.

Sakura bit her lip, crouching so she was at eye level with the children. Sasuke sighed, he knew her maternal instincts were kicking in. The children froze as Sakura ran her hands over their bumps and bruises. She felt their arms, all bone and skin. Their hair was dirty and snarled.

"What are your names?" she asked, holding both of their hands.

"I'm Hana," the girl said. "This is my brother Kyo." Hana had light brown hair and dark blue-violet eyes. Kyo was the opposite, his hair was so dark brown it looked almost black in certain light. His eyes were a light blue-gray.

"How old are you?" she asked, ruffling Kyo's hair.

"I'm five!" Kyo shouted proudly, holding up five fingers. Sakura smiled and Sasuke smirked.

"What a big boy," Sakura cooed. "And you, Hana?"

"I'm seven," the girl said quietly, fingering her brown dress. It was then that Sakura realized it wasn't a dress but a burlap sac. Kyo's outfit was the same, but he had an old pair of pants on as well. The two were barefoot.

"Well I'm Sakura, and this is my friend Sasuke. We're from the Hidden Leaf Village. Where are your parents?"

"We don't know," Hana said softly. "A few months ago, the dragon man's men ran around the streets like they just did. They killed lotsa people. They took Kaa-san, we never saw her again…"

"And your Tou-san?"

"He left when Kyo-chan was a baby. I don't really remember him…" Sasuke sighed when Sakura looked up at him.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun…"

"Fine," Sasuke said with a sigh. The children looked up at the teenagers with confused looks.

"Hana, Kyo, how would you like to come back to Konoha with Sasuke and me? I'm sure you'll love it there, we'll find some parents for you," Sakura said. Kyo and Hana looked at each other, then nodded, grins on their faces. Sakura smiled and stood up.

"Come on, we have to go find our friends Naruto and Hinata," Sakura said. Kyo and Hana ran back to the crawl space quickly. Sakura walked up to a scowling Sasuke.

"Arigatou, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly, kissing his cheek as she stood on her toes. "This means so much to them… to me."

"Tch. They'd better not slow us down."

"We'll carry them. Look at how tired they are." The children returned, each carrying a small toy. Hana had an old doll made of yarn and buttons. Kyo had a worn out teddy bear. Sakura picked up Kyo as Sasuke grabbed Hana. Sasuke eyed how Sakura rubbed Kyo's back, allowing him to tuck his face into her neck. Sasuke looked at the girl in his arms. She was fidgeting with her doll. He watched as she stifled a yawn, trying to hide her exhaustion. Sasuke sighed, then adjusted Hana so she could sleep more comfortably.

"You can sleep," he said. The girl saw how Sakura held Kyo with his head in her neck, but she paused, unsure. "Go ahead."

Hana yawned, resting her head on his broad shoulder. Sakura looked up from the little boy sucking his thumb to Sasuke and Hana, already fast asleep. Sasuke felt Sakura's eyes and looked down.

"What?" he snapped, causing Sakura to giggle as they made their way through the streets, as quickly and quietly as possible.

* * *

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said quietly waking the blonde. "Naruto-kun!"

"Arugh mrff shcak…"

"Naruto-kun!"

POKE.

"Whaa? Owww Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, rubbing his forehead.

"The sun is rising. Sasuke and Sakura-chan aren't here…" Naruto looked up. Sure enough, the pale moon was being replaced by an orange and pink sun. He bit his lip, looking around, then dropped to the ground.

"Come on, you know what teme said."

Hinata frowned, but jumped down as well. "I.. I feel so bad for deserting them…"

"We're not deserting them, we're following orders. Sasuke and Sakura-chan would've done the same thing," Naruto said, although he was sure that was wrong.

"O-Okay, if you're sure…" They headed for the gates when someone's voice was heard.

"You're not seriously planning on ditching us, are you?"

* * *

**A/N: **Yay plot bunnies! I loved throwing in Kyo and Hana! I wish I could've thought of them sooner.

Please review!! The sooner you do, the sooner I'll update!!!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Thanks for all your reviews!!! And happy new year to everyone!!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Eleven:.**

"_We're not deserting them, we're following orders. Sasuke and Sakura-chan would've done the same thing," Naruto said, although he was sure that was wrong._

"_O-Okay, if you're sure…" They headed for the gates when someone's voice was heard._

"_You're not seriously planning on ditching us, are you?"_

* * *

"Sasuke-teme! Sakura-chan! You're alive! And you're here! And you're alive! And you... have kids?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto, gently waking up Kyo. Sasuke did the same with Hana. "Naruto, Hinata-chan, we're bringing two more travelers. This is Hana and Kyo. They hid Sasuke-kun and I from Ryuu's men. Kyo-chan, Hana-chan, these are our friends, Naruto and Hinata."

Kyo blinked the sleep from his eyes, then looked up at the fox boy and white eyed girl. These nin from Konoha sure did look weird- first there was Sakura with pink hair and Sasuke with black eyes, now this Naruto guy with whiskers and a girl named Hinata who had white eyes! "You're funny lookin'," he mumbled to Naruto before falling back asleep.

"Eh? Why I oughta-"

"Dobe."

"What?"

"Shut it. Let's go. The sooner we get Sakura back to Konoha, the better." Hinata and Naruto's eyes widened when Sasuke allowed Hana to tuck her face into his neck.

"Oi Teme-"

"Naruto, watch your language in front of the children," Sakura snapped.

"Sorry Sakura," he whined, then turned to Sasuke. "I thought you hated kids…"

Sasuke blinked. "Tch." The blonde sweat dropped, but then walked ahead with his best friend.

"Where did you find them Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked, looking at the sleeping boy. "They're adorable!"

Sakura smiled as she explained what happened. "…Sasuke-kun and I will find them parents when we return. First we need to get some supplies. We'll stop at Hidden Falls Village and get some clothes."

"We should change our appearances, just in case," Hinata suggested.

"Hai, that's a good idea, once our chakra is back up, of course. Sasuke-kun!" Said Uchiha turned around.

"We're going to stop at Hidden Falls Village to get supplies."

"And Ramen."

"And clothes for the little ones."

"And Ramen."

"We'll have to change our appearances as well."

"And Ramen."

"WE GET IT NARUTO! YOU WANT YOUR RAMEN! JUST **SHUT UP**!"

Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto felt their eyes go wide and took a step away from the annoyed kunoichi. Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.

"Eheheh, sorry Sakura-chan… I'm just so hungry."

"I know, Naruto, we all are."

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time they reached Hidden Falls Village. They took an hour long nap, the four ninja each taking a shift of keeping watch. By then their chakra levels were nearly back to normal, there was enough for Sakura to heal her knee and they could alter their looks.

Sakura used chakra to turn her hair ebony black, her eyes a piercing icy blue. Sasuke couldn't help but get turned on with her sexy appearance. Because she'd hardly been seen, Hinata just made her hair a dark brown with olive green eyes. While Naruto couldn't hide the six lines on his face, he managed to change his blonde hair into a deep red, his eyes turning hazel. Sasuke's hair turned brown with brown eyes. Inner Sakura was mad, his plain brown eyes and dull brown hair turned him from Sexy Beast to Cutie. She missed her old Sasuke.

Sasuke had managed to swipe a money pouch off of Ryuu when he wasn't looking. They used the Dragon Man's generosity to provide shelter, food, and clothing. Sasuke and Naruto walked out of the men's store with new backpacks full of food, weapons, and a spare set of clothes. Sasuke wore a black shirt and black pants, while Naruto bought black pants and another orange sweatshirt.

Minutes later, Sakura and Hinata arrived from a women's store. Sakura was clad in the usual black cargo pants with a white and blue striped shirt and white jacket. Hinata had on gray pants and a black scoop neck sweater, a red t-shirt peeking out under it. In their arms were Kyo and Hana, still dressed in their burlap sacs.

"Why didn't you change the kids?" Naruto asked.

"They're still filthy," Sakura explained. "We're going to give them a bath and then change their clothes."

The only motel they could find was the Nakahara Motel. The group prayed that Juro wouldn't recognize them. Of course, he didn't. They paid for one room and he went back to reading… Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura and Hinata shuddered.

Once they got into their room, Hinata went to look at the bath room. "There's no tub," she said when she came out, frowning.

Sakura bit her lip. "I don't want to go to a public bath house, it'll be easier if we can remove these disguises."

"Maybe you could find a hot spring somewhere," Naruto suggested.

"Yeah!" Hinata said. "I'm sure they have some natural ones by the waterfalls."

Sakura nodded, taking everything out of her pack besides bathing necessities and towels. "You two stay here, you can remove the chakra disguises, but use them to answer the door."

"Duh Sakura-chan."

"Tch."

"Okay, sorry! Sheesh," Sakura muttered, lifting Hana into her arms as Hinata grabbed Kyo.

The four of them reached the water falls, finding that no one was around. One hot spring was hidden by rock walls and a waterfall. The girls decided that would be their best option.

Removing the chakra disguises once they were sure no one was around, the kunoichi undressed and did the same to the children before going into the hot springs. Sakura took Kyo while Hinata took Hana. After washing their bodies, minding their bruises, the girls washed the children's hair and added conditioner. They allowed them to play in the water while they washed their own hair and bodies.

Once they were done, Sakura and Hinata toweled off and got dressed, adding the chakra disguises. They proceeded to dry off the kids and dress them in their pajamas. The older girls squealed with delight in Hana's adorable light yellow flannel nightie and Kyo's green feetie pajamas (a/n: OMG I LOOOVE THOSE!!!).

They entered the motel room, locking the door behind them as they removed the chakra disguises. Hinata noticed the boys had a bag with them.

"What's that?" she asked.

"After we showered, we got bored," Naruto said. "So teme suggested we go get something for the kids."

"Tch." Sasuke hadn't planned on Naruto saying it was his idea. He flushed slightly at Sakura's delighted gaze.

"Kyo-chan, Hana-chan, wake up. Sasuke-kun and Naruto have something for you," Sakura said quietly, waking the two. Their eyes widened as they saw a dark brown bear and a fabric doll with curly blonde hair. They squealed in delight and wriggled out of Hinata and Sakura's grasps to hug their new toys.

Hinata walked over to the kitchen area of the motel room with Naruto to begin making dinner, and Hana and Kyo sat on the couch, playing with their new playthings. Sakura walked over to Sasuke, seated on the bed.

"S-Sasuke-kun," she whispered, grabbing his hand. "That was really sweet of you." Sasuke looked over at her, finding himself lost in her gorgeous emerald eyes.

"I- I figured it would make you happy," he said quietly. Sakura blushed and smiled, bringing her hand to cup his cheek, her thumb stroking it. Sasuke leaned forward, his eyes starting to close. Sakura's heart sped up, knowing what was about to happen as she too leaned forward.

"Sasuke…" a tiny voice interrupted. The two instantly jumped away from each other, seeing Kyo and Hana staring at them.

"H-Hana-chan! Hello!" Sakura said, smiling nervously. "What can we do for you?"

Hana glanced back at Kyo, then looked up at Sasuke. "A-Arigatou, Sasuke. For the toys." She then leaned up and kissed his cheek, doing the same to Naruto. The two then walked back to the couch to play with their toys. Sakura smiled at Sasuke, then stood up, patted his shoulder, and went to help make dinner.

Kyo and Hana sat in awe. Never in their lives had they seen someone eat so much! Sakura and Hinata rolled their eyes as Sasuke and Naruto ate their ramen bowl after bowl after bowl. Kyo and Hana could barely finish one bowl without becoming full.

Hinata and Sakura set up the pull out couch for the kids, making sure they got the fluffiest pillows. Then Sasuke and Naruto told them stories of their best missions while the girls washed the dishes.

Sakura and Hinata smiled at each other as they heard Sasuke and Naruto get even more into their story of the Chunin Exams. Hana gasped when Naruto talked about he and Sasuke passing out, leaving only Sakura to defend them. He was about to get to her cutting off her hair, when Sakura clanked a pot in the cupboards.

"Well we're done now, we should get to sleep everyone," Sakura announced loudly. Sasuke and Hinata exchanged glances, while Naruto got confused, but shrugged and went to the bathroom.

Sakura tucked in Hana and Kyo, kissing each of them goodnight. Once the two were asleep, Hinata and Sakura changed into sleep pants and tank tops. Again, Naruto and Sasuke decided to stay fully clothed.

And again, there was the bed predicament. There was no couch for Sasuke to sleep on, and there were two queen beds. None of the four knew what to do.

"Naruto-kun, why don't you and I share a bed?" Hinata asked, glancing at Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto caught on instantly.

"Okay Hinata-chan!" he shouted loudly, climbing into bed. The two lay down right away, pretending to sleep.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. _Idiots. They really think we fell for that?_

**Quit being stupid.**

_What?_

**Now's your chance! There's one bed and the two of you! Go for it!** Inner Sasuke said slyly, waggling his eyebrows to add to the effect.

_I cant do _that_! Not here with the dobe and Hinata and the kids-_

**Haha who said I was talking about _that_?**

_I… but- you… argh…_

Inner Sasuke laughed evilly. **Pervert. Just sleep in the bed with her. Who knows, maybe in your 'sleep' you'll 'accidentally' brush against her-**

"So," Sakura said. "I guess I'll go to bed now…" She slipped under the covers, leaning up on her elbows.

"Hn."

Sasuke walked over to the corner of the room, sitting down and crossing his arms. Sakura pouted. Why was he always so difficult?

"Sasuke."

"Hn?"

"You _can _sleep in the bed. Its not like anything's gonna happen." **I wish it would though! **

_Be quiet, I'm trying to talk to him and you're distracting me._

**-sticks tongue out-**

When Sasuke didn't respond, Sakura groaned and slumped down onto her pillow, laying on her side, facing Naruto and Hinata who were already asleep in each other's arms.

Sasuke got up to turn the lights out and startled Sakura when he crawled into the bed with her. Inner Sakura started screaming, running around and cheering. Sakura was glad it was dark so no one could see her face match her hair.

Sakura moved to turn around when her hand brushed against something firm. Sakura gasped. She just rubbed his six pack! It was so tight and firm and sexy, she could hardly stand it. And then the ever intelligent kunoichi realized something.

Uchiha Sasuke was sharing a bed with her. And he was shirtless.

Inner Sakura fainted. Sakura was about to, when Sasuke turned to her. "You okay?" he mumbled. Sakura nodded, unable to find her voice. However, Sasuke couldn't see her in the dark.

"Sakura?" he snapped.

"H-Hai. Um… sorry about… hitting… you," she mumbled before quickly throwing her head onto her pillow.

Sasuke's eyes widened. He hoped she hadn't heard the noise he made when she did. He didn't even know what it was. It was low, from the bottom of his throat. Could it be… a moan?

Inner Sasuke laughed. **PERVERT.** Sasuke shook his head, laying it back on his pillow.

Unbeknownst to the two struggling in the bed, two pair of eyes were watching the entire time. Ivory and Cerulean gleamed with amusement before closing contently.

* * *

Sasuke woke up with his nose buried in something that smelled delicious. Like… strawberries? He slowly opened his onyx eyes, which widened when he saw pink. So _that's_ what that warm thing in his arms was! Sasuke looked down to see Sakura in his arms, her face cuddled into his chest. Their legs were intertwined and his hands were in her hair.

"Mmm Sasuke-kun…" Sakura mumbled, rubbing her cheek against Sasuke's bare chest. Damn that felt good. Too good. He needed to get control of himself!

"Are Sasuke and Sakura-chan in love?" a tiny voice shouted. Sasuke and Sakura sat up instantly, to find Naruto playing with Kyo, while Hana and Hinata were making breakfast. Hinata pulled her hand over Hana's mouth, turning away so the pair wouldn't see her smiling.

"Ahem… good morning everyone," Sakura said, scratching the back of her head. She straightened out her hair, then got out of bed quickly. Sasuke was already up and pulling his shirt on.

Sakura quickly took a shower, trying to escape everyone's teasing eyes. Sasuke sat on the couch next to Naruto, who was showing some defense moves to Kyo through his teddy bear and Hana's doll.

"Have a good sleep, teme?"

"Shut up, dobe."

Naruto laughed, then turned back to Kyo. "Okay, Kyo-chan, do you remember what to do if someone comes at you like this?"

Naruto made the bear come at the doll, Kyo instantly blocked it and made a move of his own. "That was great, Kyo-chan!" Even Sasuke was impressed. For a kid who'd never been trained as a ninja, Kyo was quick to catch on.

"Hey!" Hana shouted, running over to the boys. "Ayame-chan doesn't like fighting!"

"What? Yes she does!" Naruto protested.

"No," Hana said. "She likes tea parties, flowers, and Sasuke-kun."

Hinata nearly dropped the plate of eggs in her hand. Naruto howled with laughter while Sasuke's face paled. Kyo was in his own world, showing his bear different punches on a lamp.

"Nooo," Naruto insisted when he recovered. "Ayame doesn't want to go to some stupid tea party, she wants to become a strong kunoichi!"

"No she doesn't!" Hana shouted, stomping her foot and hugging the doll tightly. "She wants to marry Sasuke-kun…" The young brunette batted her eye lashes at the Uchiha lovingly. Naruto burst out in laughter again.

"Hana-chan, kunoichi can still go to tea parties and get married," Hinata explained. "Sakura-chan and I have tea a lot-"

"But neither of you are married to Sasuke-kun."

"Well, we could get married. Lots of ninja are married."

"Hana-chan, Ayame cant get married to Sasuke," Naruto said. The grin on his face made Sasuke grow worried of what he was going to say.

"Why not?" she demanded.

Naruto winked at the pink haired girl coming out of the bathroom, brushing her hair and humming softly. "He's already taken."

Hana grinned, turning around at Sakura and hugging her legs. Sasuke stood up, scowling.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, lowering her hairbrush.

"Naruto told me you're getting married to Sasuke-kun!" Hana shouted. "I guess if Ayame can't have him, I'd want you to."

Sakura's eyes flickered as she crossed her arms. "Naruto, may I speak to you outside for a minute?"

The two quickly changed into their chakra disguises and suddenly Sakura's angry voice was heard, then a loud thwap.

Sakura walked back in, her hairbrush dented, followed by a blonde Naruto, rubbing the enormous bump on his head. Sakura removed her disguise, pulling Hana into her arms so she could brush her hair. Sasuke decided it would be a good time to take a shower.

The group ate breakfast, then Sakura and Hinata changed Kyo and Hana. Kyo wore black pants (the girls noticed how much he idolized the two older boys) and a red and blue top. Hana had a cute dark purple shirt that matched her eyes and light purple pants. Ino would've loved it. Sakura twisted Hana's hair into two braids so her hair would stay out of her face.

The four ninja made their chakra disguises again and paid Juro, again much to the disappointment to Naruto.

They decided to stick to the path while it was still early, but soon Hana and Kyo grew tired and Sasuke and Sakura carried them. After a while they all decided it would be easier to just tree hop, much to the excitement of Kyo and Hana.

* * *

"Oi, let's take a break for lunch," Naruto suggested. "I'm starving."

"Me too!" Kyo shouted. "And so is Teddy." Sakura laughed, kissing his head. Hinata used her Byakugan to find a few shade trees by a creek.

Naruto boiled the creek water over the fire Sasuke made while Sakura and Hinata played with Kyo and Hana. Soon their lunch of ramen was ready and everyone ate hungrily.

While Sakura and Hinata cleaned up, Naruto tried to show Kyo how he could catch a fish with his bare hand. Kyo laughed as the fish slapped Naruto in the face before falling back in the water.

"Sasuke?" He looked down from his spot leaning against a tree to see Hana holding a tomato out to him. "Sakura-chan bought it at the village. She said it was for someone special who loves tomatoes. I know you like tomatoes, so… here."

Sasuke looked up at the kunoichi, who was now laughing her head off watching Hinata do something. He eyed the tomato, then grabbed it. He bit into it, he hadn't eaten a tomato in the longest time and it tasted delicious- but Sasuke couldn't help but feel that it wasn't the fact that he hadn't eaten one in a while that made it taste so good… there was something else that added to it.

Hana screamed suddenly, running over to Sasuke's lap. "I just saw a guy in the tree! Then he disappeared!" she shouted. Sasuke sat up, he _knew_ he felt someone's presence.

"Naruto!" he shouted. "Grab Kyo. We've got visitors."

All four ninja grabbed kunai, ignoring whatever they were previously doing. Sasuke disregarded that he dropped the half eaten tomato in the dirt, his eyes were now scanning the trees.

"I don't see anyone," Sakura said. Hinata activated her Byakugan, searching for any sign of a threat.

Hana clutched onto Ayame, as if she was afraid it was the doll they were after. Sasuke adjusted her so she was on one hip, his other hand grabbing a kunai. Hana looked over to Kyo, seeing that he and Teddy were safe with Naruto. She turned back to see Sasuke now had red eyes with weird black things in his eyes.

Hana screamed at the top of her lungs, wriggling from Sasuke's grasp. "Sakura-chan!" she shouted. "Sasuke turned into a monster!" She jumped into Sakura's arms, looking at Sasuke, then shaking in fear.

"I-It's okay, Hana-chan. He's not a monster, its something his family can do. It's like a trick, it helps him fight," Sakura explained, yet Hana refused to look at Sasuke anymore.

Naruto noticed that Kyo started shaking as well. "It's okay, Little Buddy," he whispered. "Sakura-chan, Kyo's not doing so well either!"

Sakura bit her lip, seeing the look in Sasuke's eye. "Hinata-chan, go grab Kyo-chan. We'll keep them hidden."

In the blink of an eye, Hinata had returned with Kyo in her arms. And it was perfect timing too, because now two ninja jumped at Naruto.

"Stay down here," Sakura told the kids, who were crouching next to a tree behind the two kunoichi. "No matter what happens." They nodded their heads, hugging their sibling.

Now there were several ninja, some fighting with each of the four shinobi. Sakura was worried about fighting in front of the kids, they weren't used to seeing this. She was sure they were terrified.

It was then that Sasuke decided to chidori a few of the ninjas he was fighting. Both Hana and Kyo screamed and started shaking. Sakura bit her lip, quickly kicking a ninja's head so he fell unconscious.

She quickly moved so she was next to Sasuke. "The kids cant take this. You're scaring them. I'm going to move them. Can you guys hold them off?" Sasuke nodded.

"I'll go with you," Hinata offered. Sakura nodded, grabbing Hana. She yelped as a ninja grabbed onto her hair and accidentally got hold of Hana's doll. Hana screamed again, trying to tug her doll out of his grip.

"Where do you think you're going?" the ninja snapped. Sakura groaned, bent down and punched the ground, creating a crevice between them and the ninja. She winced as he grabbed several strands of her hair as well, though.

"He took Ayame's eye!" Hana wailed, sobbing into Sakura's shoulder. Sakura and Hinata ran as far as they could, then masked their chakra, hoping they wouldn't be found.

About forty five minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke found them. Hana looked down at Ayame, fingering the place where the button that served as her right eye used to be. Sakura frowned, reaching for a needle and thread that was in her pack. She then grabbed her brand new black jacket, ripping a button off.

Hana watched in amazement as the pink haired kunoichi proceeded to sew the button in place. "Hooray, you fixed her!" she shouted, hugging the doll tightly. Sakura smiled as Kyo crawled over towards her, so now both were sitting on her lap.

"We should get going," Sasuke said. Sakura nodded, picking up Kyo. Everyone noticed how Hana hesitated to go over to Sasuke. She fidgeted with her doll before walking over to Naruto and lifting her arms. Naruto looked up at Sasuke, who just crossed his arms and walked away with a grunt. The blonde lifted her up, jumping a bit as she immediately tucked her face into his neck and fell asleep.

"They're just not used to the Sharingan," Sakura reassured to Sasuke, touching his shoulder. His face remained emotionless, but his eyes betrayed the disappointment he felt. "Tch." Sakura's heart ached for him as she knew how much it meant to him to have someone trust him so willingly, only to have them end up fearing him like most children did.

Sakura rubbed a sleeping Kyo's back before jumping up into the trees with a sigh.

* * *

**A/N: **Poor Sasuke. It's not his fault the Sharingan makes him a little scary. Will he ever regain Hana and Kyo's trust? And who were the ninja that attacked them?

You'll find out as soon as you review!!!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Thanks for all your wonderful reviews!! I love hearing from you. School started back up this Wednesday and we've been assigned two HUGE projects that will make up most of our grade so I've been working my A$$ off- I burned my hand **twice** from the hot glue gun! Do you know how hard it is to type with a burn blister in the palm of your hand??? _...Anyway, _updates might not be as constant as they were for the past week, but don't worry, I will still continue to update!!!!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Twelve:.**

Sakura yawned (a/n: haha whenever I read the word yawn it makes me yawn. Does that happen to anyone else or am I just weird??). How long had they been traveling? She had no idea, but wished Sasuke would hurry up and say it was time to set up camp. Couldn't he see that the sun was setting already?

The kunoichi smiled as she heard little Kyo's stomach grumble. His blue-gray eyes looked up at her and blinked. Sakura nodded, she knew he wanted to eat soon.

Sasuke's well trained ears caught wind of Kyo's stomach. He scanned around, finally seeing a small clearing and directing his companions to stop there.

Everyone noticed how Kyo and Hana sat as far away from Sasuke as possible. Sakura bit her lip and scooted closer to the Uchiha, trying to show the children there was nothing to be afraid of.

Sakura looked up at the sky. "Kyo-chan, Hana-chan, I think it's time for you to go to bed, okay?"

"But I'm not tired, Sakura-chan!" Hana insisted, stifling a yawn.

"Me neither," Kyo said, even though he could hardly keep his head up. Sakura smiled, lifting the two into her arms and carrying them into her and Hinata's tent. The two slid into a single sleeping bag, fitting in it perfectly. Sakura kissed each of them on the head, laughing lightly as they fell asleep the minute their heads hit the pillows.

Sakura walked out of the tent seeing Sasuke scowling at the fire while Hinata and Naruto decided to get some more kindling. Sakura was glad she and Sasuke could finally have a minute alone together.

"They just need to get used to it, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly as she sat down next to the Uchiha.

"Hn."

"Don't be like this," she pleaded. "Moping around will only effect them even more negatively."

"I'm not moping," Sasuke snapped. Sakura sighed.

"Okay-"

"I'm just not good with kids," he said, as if that explained everything.

Sakura turned so she could look into his eyes. "That's not true," she insisted. "I saw how you were with them. You were kind and gentle. Someday, you'll make a great father."

Sasuke's eyes looked into Sakura's. "If I ever get there," he said with a snort. "What woman wants to have a _traitor's_ children?"

"You're not a traitor! Everyone knows that, Sasuke-kun. You did what you had to, to avenge your clan. I respect that."

Sasuke looked back to the fire with a sigh. "I used to have dreams. I always pictured myself becoming a ninja, getting married, having kids, growing old with the woman I loved. And then… everything changed."

"Sasuke-kun, you were so young. You were forced to grow up before even hitting puberty-"

"And look what it's turned me into. A cold, heartless bastard who everyone is afraid of," the nineteen year old said with a frown.

"I'm not," Sakura whispered. "I have no reason to be. I believe in you." Sasuke's onyx eyes widened a bit as they looked over at Sakura in surprise.

Sakura smiled softly, playing with the ends of her pink hair. "I- I know what it's like to lose your family."

Sasuke nodded. Sakura's parents were killed when their house burned down just a few months after Sasuke had returned. Sakura was only seventeen. It had never occurred to the Uchiha that they were so similar. Sakura, just like Sasuke, was all alone.

* * *

Emerald and ivory eyes shot open at the sound of blades hitting their tent and two screams from the children. Sakura grabbed her kunai holster and Kyo as Hinata did the same with Hana. 

The kunoichi ran out of the tent, into the early morning light, to see Sasuke and Naruto already fighting with several ninja. Hinata activated her Byakugan.

"We're surrounded," she whispered, her voice only shaking a bit.

They sat Hana and Kyo on the ground behind them, pulling out several kunai. Hinata charged at several ninja, attacking them with her Gentle Fist. They were out instantly. Sakura threw several kunai and shuriken, hitting several of the ninjas down.

"It seems like no matter how many we hit, twice as many appear after!" Naruto mumbled as he ran by, shadow clones flying around.

Hinata went to move Hana out of Naruto's way when she yelped in pain. Two kunai stuck out of her upper arm, blood pouring down profusely. Hana shrieked and burst into tears. Sakura grabbed Hana and Kyo as Naruto aided Hinata, trying to remove the kunai as painlessly as possible.

Searing pain shot through Sakura's back. Her knees buckled and she dropped the kids to the ground. Now Kyo began crying as well, seeing the kunai sticking out of Sakura's back. There were at least half a dozen, maybe more.

Sasuke's fists clenched as he saw the ninja who threw the kunai. He quickly took out two dozen ninja with his chidori, then rushed over to where Sakura and the kids were.

Hana and Kyo were crying as Sakura slowly tried to get up. Naruto and Hinata were too busy fighting off other ninjas to help. Hana shrieked when she saw Sasuke's red eyes, but he ignored it. All that was on his mind was protecting Sakura.

Sasuke quickly stepped in front of Sakura, who was on all fours, and Kyo and Hana, who were quivering behind her. He could hear Hana whimper the word "monster."

"Trust me," he said, without turning around. Hana gulped and looked at Sakura, who nodded at the younger girl. Hana nodded up at Sasuke.

"Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Sakura grinded her teeth together, trying to take her mind off of the pain in her back. She attempted to remove some of the kunai, but found that her arms were at the wrong angle, cutting into her wounds even more. She groaned in pain, tears welling up in her eyes. Suddenly there were flames everywhere and then everything was silent.

Sakura looked up to see all the ninja either burned to a crisp or beaten to a pulp. She slowly maneuvered so she was facing Sasuke.

"Sakura." He was instantly at her side, eyes wide with worry and the unsureness of what to do. Naruto and Hinata rushed over as well, making sure Hana and Kyo were also safe.

Sakura's eyes were growing heavy and her body felt like it was on fire. She knew something was wrong. She hoped Hinata had enough chakra in her to heal her body because the medic nin knew there was no way she'd be able to reach her wounds.

"The k-kunai," she managed to whisper, her arms beginning to collapse under her. "I-I think they w-were r-rusty… I'm getting… I'm getting a fever, Hinata-ch… chan."

"Get the supplies," Naruto told Hinata.

Sakura collapsed and Sasuke caught her. Her viridian eyes looked up into his onyx ones. "You… regained their t-trust," she said with a smile before falling unconscious.

* * *

Hana walked into the new clearing where Sasuke and Naruto had set up tents and a fire. Naruto was explaining to Kyo what kunai and shuriken were while Sasuke was cooking some fish he caught. 

"Hinata-chan is done, Sasuke-kun. She needs your help carrying Sakura-chan," Hana said, her fear in Sasuke disappearing.

"I'll be back in a minute," Sasuke said. "Don't let the fish burn, dobe."

"Why? Is it for _Sakura-chan_?" Naruto teased, waggling his eyebrows. He laughed as he dodging the rock that was thrown his way.

Sasuke followed Hana into a private clearing where Hinata could heal Sakura without her companions' male gazes. Sakura's shirt looked like a piece of Swiss cheese, so Hinata had to settle for wrapping the bandages from Sakura's stomach to under her arms.

"I'm not as skilled as Sakura-chan," Hinata explained. "So she's not back to one hundred percent just yet. You have to be gentle."

Sasuke nodded, lifting Sakura so one arm was under her legs and the other leaned her forward so her head rested on his shoulder, leaving Sakura's back untouched. Hana and Hinata gathered the supplies and followed after them.

"How should I lay her down?" he asked. Hinata grabbed a sleeping bag and pillow, laying it near the fire.

"Back down, I know it seems illogical, but she should have minimal back pain now and its better for her to lay face up. Her fever's gone, and she's freezing cold now. The fire should warm her up. We need to keep her hydrated also," Hinata explained.

Hana sat down next to Sakura's head, stroking the silky pink locks delicately. "Will Sakura-chan be okay?" she asked.

Hinata smiled, drinking some water, then pouring a little so it dribbled into Sakura's mouth. "Aa. She'll be fine."

"Thanks to you, Sasuke-kun!" Hana shouted, wrapping her arms around his torso. "You're not a monster, you're a hero!"

Naruto grinned as Sasuke stiffened, but then relaxed, a tiny smirk on his face. He knew if Sakura were awake, she'd tell him how proud of him she was. He shook his head, trying to forget about her weak state, and served the lunch.

After lunch, Naruto and Sasuke decided to teach Kyo some simple hand-to-hand combat moves they'd used on the doll. Hana and Hinata sat near Sakura while Hinata styled Hana's hair and told her stories of their childhoods.

Hinata took Hana and Kyo for a bath in a nearby lake while Naruto and Sasuke made ramen for dinner. The kids came back dressed in their pajamas, shivering from the cold night air.

"It's already the middle of November," Naruto said. "We need to get home soon. We don't have the supplies to last in the snow."

"I know," Sasuke said, poking the fire with a stick. "We just keep hitting these setbacks."

"Alright, Kyo-chan, Hana-chan, time for bed," Hinata said. They all scurried into the warm tent after saying goodnight to the boys.

"Ya know what I don't get?" Naruto said quietly once they were sure the others were asleep. "Why did those guys hit Sakura-chan? They were from Sound, I bet they're working for Ryuu, so why would they injure her when they couldn't before?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Sasuke said. "They're up to something. I can feel it."

"Aa," Naruto agreed, then stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll be back in a few hours and take watch."

"Hn."

* * *

"Sasuke!" 

Sasuke kept his eyes shut and rolled over in his warm sleeping bag. Whatever Naruto was up to, he didn't care one bit.

"Wake up, teme!"

"Go away dobe."

"Sasuke, I need your help!"

Sasuke snorted, pulling the blanket up even higher.

Naruto groaned. "They're coming after Sakura."

Onyx eyes shot open and Sasuke was out of the tent before Naruto could even take a breath.

Dozens of Naruto's shadow clones were fighting off Sound ninja while two nin made their way towards Sakura's sleeping body. Sasuke felt the rage boil in his veins. There was no way that sick pervert Ryuu would ever even _see_ Sakura again.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata mumbled, sticking her messy haired head out of her tent flap. "What's going on?"

"Sound Nin are here for Sakura-chan," Naruto explained quickly. "Stay in the tent with the kids."

"O-Okay. Be careful, Naruto-kun," Hinata said before disappearing back into the tent.

"I'll take care of these guys, you get Sakura-chan, teme." Sasuke didn't need to be told, he was already heading over towards the kunoichi and her captors. He would've just chidoried their asses, but then Sakura would go up in flames as well. Sasuke cursed, he knew this would be difficult.

Sasuke grabbed a kunai from the holster attached around his upper thigh, throwing it at one of the ninjas who was grabbing Sakura. It hit him in the arm, but the man just ripped it out and threw it to the ground like it was a fly.

_Kuso! This is going to be even harder than I thought. Of course, Ryuu's last nin were pathetic, it's only logical for him to take it up a notch, _Sasuke told himself while trying to prepare another attack.

He decided to try to trick the nin using Shadow Shuriken (_Kage Shuriken no Jutsu_). Sasuke threw the shuriken towards the first ninja, who automatically dodged the first shuriken, but completely missed the second shuriken that shot up and slit his throat. Sasuke smirked as he saw the nin drop to the ground.

The second ninja saw what happened and lifted Sakura up. Sasuke glared when Sakura gasped in pain as the ninja clutched onto her back. Her head lolled backwards, giving the ninja a good view of her neck and upper torso. He smirked suggestively at Sasuke, then turned to leave.

Sasuke's hand went to his holster, only to find it empty. How did that happen? He forgot that he gave some kunai to Hinata earlier. Now the ninja would take Sakura back to Sound. Sasuke would have to resort to hand-to-hand combat until he could get Sakura out of the way.

He ran forward, jumping up and scissor kicked the nin's in the head, causing him to fall forward. Sasuke was about to pull him away when he heard the sound of a blade hitting flesh, and then the ninja gasped in pain and rolled over.

Sasuke quickly whipped the ninja off of Sakura to see a large kunai sticking out of the ninja's heart. He looked over to see Sakura bracing herself up on her elbows, smirking at her handiwork. Naruto rushed over, nearly falling over at what he saw.

"What?" Sakura asked the two gaping shinobi in a groggy voice. "I couldn't let you have _all_ of the fun."

* * *

**A/N: **Pleeeeeaaaaase forgive me if the action scenes sounded corny or fake. I have little experience and/or skill in writing action scenes. If you have any tips or suggestions, I'd love to hear them! 

Ok, Summer Camp currently has **184** reviews. MI:CBB has **134**. That's only 50 away from beating my record. Please review! Anyone who reviews will get the next chapter dedicated to them! Maybe I'll add in some **extra-fluffy **_SasuSaku_ and _NaruHina_ fluff too ;)


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Yay reviews! Thanks everyone! And I would like to point out that I do not ask for reviews just because I'm a _review whore _(haha my friend's words, not mine), I honestly like hearing your opinions of my stories. So please do continue to review, your reviews are what keep me going. Otherwise, I worry that I'm a bad writer or something.

Anyway, Chapter 13 is dedicated to:

MaoAyanamipl

Samantha

Suk-fong

**93addict**

**Yumi Kitsuna Kazeyokai**

ramen4brains

**Go-Go Girly**

luckyazn

Freedomstar999

tri17

**Heartless Ghost**

.:crimson rose:.

**Tac03e11hp** (yay! You got it right!!)

C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only

Shadow Fox777

**Midnight.Sonata**

**inu-babi-00**

CrAzY-SiLLy-Me

**((the bold are my favorites))**

(If you reviewed Chapter 12 and your name isn't posted here, please forgive me. The only reason you're not up here is because I updated before receiving your review.)

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Thirteen:.**

_Sasuke quickly whipped the ninja off of Sakura to see a large kunai sticking out of the ninja's heart. He looked over to see Sakura bracing herself up on her elbows, smirking at her handiwork. Naruto rushed over, nearly falling over at what he saw._

"_What?" Sakura asked the two gaping shinobi. "I couldn't let you have all of the fun."_

"Sakura-chan!" Hana shouted as she launched herself into the kunoichi's arms. Sakura laughed as she hugged the young girl, then winced as she felt her wounds getting stretched.

Sasuke noticed Sakura's facial expression. "Hana," he said. "Let's go. We need to get Sakura back to camp."

Hana looked up and smiled, then grabbed Naruto's hand and lead the way back to where Hinata and Kyo were. Sasuke lifted Sakura into his arms bridal style.

"Y-You don't need to do this, Sasuke-kun. I- I can walk…" Sakura said as she fidgeted with her hands in a Hinata-like way. Sasuke grunted, but made no other response. Sakura sighed and settled for resting her head on his chest, seeing as she couldn't wrap her arms around his neck from the stretching it made her back go through.

Sasuke laid Sakura back down onto the sleeping bag next to the fire. It was only six in the morning, so Kyo and Hana went back to sleep, but the four nineteen year olds found themselves not tired enough to fall back asleep.

Hinata and Naruto sat down next to a large tree, somewhat distancing themselves from Sakura and Sasuke. Hinata leaned back against the tree's bark, feeling completely peaceful. She jumped slightly when Naruto decided her lap would make a nice pillow, but she then relaxed again and started stroking his spiky hair.

"Ne, that feels good, Hinata-chan," Naruto said in a groggy voice. Hinata smiled, realizing he was half asleep again.

"Would you like me to keep going?" she asked.

"Yes," he mumbled, nuzzling his nose into her shirt. Hinata squeaked when his nose tickled her stomach. "…feels good…"

The Hyuuga giggled at how childish Naruto could be when he was sleeping. She blew lightly onto his face and laughed as his face crinkled from the cool air. Naruto muttered random noises and crawled up into a small ball to warm himself.

Hinata smiled and began to stroke his hair again. Naruto smiled and sighed contentedly. "You're really pretty, Hinata-chan," he mumbled, throwing his hand onto her leg.

Hinata blushed deep red, her heartbeat speeding up. "A-Arigatou, Naruto-kun."

"And you're a _really _good kisser."

As impossible as it seems, Hinata's face became an even darker red. "N-Naruto-kun…"

"I really like you, Hinata-chan."

She gasped. "I… I really like you, Naruto-kun."

"I mean… I really _really_ like you."

"Aa. I really _really _like you, too."

"So then why aren't you my girlfriend?" Hinata was too busy being flustered to notice a cerulean eye open slowly.

"I… because… you never a-asked me…?"

"So if I asked you to be my girlfriend, you would say yes?"

"U-Um… hai?"

"Yes, you'll be my girlfriend or yes, you'd say yes if I asked?"

Hinata felt like she was going to faint. "B-Both."

Naruto looked up at her, grinning. "Great!" he said, then pulled her head down into a kiss.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun?" 

Obsidian eyes glanced over at her to acknowledge her. Then they returned their gaze to the fire dancing before them.

"Um… I just wanted to say… thank you. F- For saving me from those ninja," Sakura managed to say quietly.

"Hn. I didn't kill that one though. That was all you."

"Well… yes but… all the others were you. You've saved my life so many times, I can't thank you enough." Sakura laughed in a disgusted way. "You must think I'm really weak, huh?"

Sasuke watched the girl as she slowly sat up. "No," he said, causing her emerald eyes to widen. "You've saved my life before, too."

Sakura snorted. "Hardly as many times as you've saved mine, though."

"That doesn't matter. I was in much graver danger than you. You don't know how many times you've saved me from the curse. Not just during the Chunin Exams, but even when I was with… _him_. The only thing that kept me from letting it take over was the image of your twelve year old self. That day in the forest. When you hugged me, your eyes were so sad, yet hopeful. Like you knew there was still hope that everything would end up okay. I remembered your voice calling my name, begging me to stop, begging me to come back.

"Sakura, don't you get it? The only thing that's kept me alive all these years, is you."

Sakura gasped, but didn't have time to respond, because suddenly Sasuke's lips were on hers. He held her head in place, then slowly pulled back, but stopped when their foreheads rested on each other.

"Sakura," he whispered. "Arigatou."

Sakura smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing the gap between them again. Sasuke closed his eyes, bringing his strong arms around her small body. He licked her bottom lip, instantly gaining entry into her delicious mouth. Sakura moaned, tugging on Sasuke's ebony hair. Their tongues explored each other's mouth, then danced together, giving the two ninja feelings they'd never felt before.

Sasuke leaned forward slightly as Sakura pulled tighter on him. His left hand moved from Sakura's back to the crook between her hip and her thigh, while his other hand braced himself up so he wouldn't crush the injured kunoichi. A low growl made its way from his throat as Sakura began massaging his head with her long, slender fingers.

Sakura yelped when she felt Sasuke's thumb tuck under the bandages wrapped around her torso, the calloused finger rubbing her lean stomach. For payback she snaked her hands under his shirt, brushing past his strong six-pack abs until they rested on his broad chest. Sasuke moaned when she did this, then stuck his whole hand under the bandages, gently massaging and teasing the small of her back.

"Oi what do you think you're doing?" a voice shouted, causing the two to instantly jump apart. "There's kids here, ya know!"

Sakura's face was as red as the crimson tent that two young heads were poking out of, their blue eyes blinking innocently. "S-Sorry Naruto, we um… we got a little carried away…?"

Naruto smiled, then grabbed Hinata's hand. "Hey I don't care, it's good to see you two finally came to your senses… just make sure H-A-N-A and K-Y-O aren't around to watch you next time."

Sakura smacked her forehead. Sasuke sweat dropped. Hinata laughed. Hana stormed out of the tent, hands on her hips. "I can S-P-E-L-L, ya know. I'm already seven years old!"

Naruto sweat dropped as well, then scooped Hana into his arms. "I know, I was just testing you! Good to see that you can spell your and Kyo's names." With that, he set the girl down and strutted away like he really fooled the keen young girl.

Sakura laughed, then shivered as a cool breeze blew past the campsite. She bit her lip, winter was on its way and now she was without a shirt. The pink-haired girl knew that she needed to get something heavier, and soon.

Sasuke walked out of his and Naruto's tent, returning with a black turtleneck sweater. He threw it in Sakura's lap, then started to take the tents down.

"I… Sasuke-kun… what…?"

"You'll freeze."

"But what about-"

"I have another one that's blue. Take it or you'll get pneumonia." Sakura smiled and gently tugged the warm sweater on, minding her slight back pain. She sniffed the neck of the sweater, it smelled musky and slightly like cinnamon. Sakura grinned, rubbing her arms to get some more warmth in them.

Sakura and Hinata gave Hana and Kyo jackets and mittens to warm themselves with since most of the way they'd be sitting in Hinata and Naruto's arms. Sasuke took Sakura's pack for her, carrying both of theirs so she could have her back free. Sakura smiled gratefully at the Uchiha, who just nodded then announced it was time they got home.

* * *

"Come in," a dark brunette man said after hearing the knock on his door. 

A short, stout man with balding black hair walked in, removing the dark glasses he wore. He bowed silently, then folded his hands behind his back.

"We've just received word from Captain Hayashi," the man said carefully.

"…And?"

The short man sighed. "His entire team was annihilated. He was the only survivor besides one nin who managed to escape before Uchiha's chidori."

The man's boss snorted, setting some paperwork down on his large oak desk. "_Uchiha._ I can't get past him. Well," he corrected himself, turning around in his chair so he was facing the blonde man, "_They_ can't get past him. Perhaps it's time he faced someone who actually can _beat_ him."

* * *

Sakura looked at her friends with a sigh. They were all carrying extra weight while she carried nothing but herself. She couldn't even provide her own clothing. How pathetic was that? 

"I need to stop," she said suddenly, so suddenly Hinata nearly fell out of the tree she was in. Luckily, Kyo was too far into dreamland to notice.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

"Nothing, Naruto. I just… I need to stop." Sakura looked over at Sasuke, hoping her Inner Self was right about Sasuke actually caring about her.

**If he _really_ cares about us, **Inner Sakura explained, **he'll let us stop.**

Sasuke sighed. "Ten minutes," he said before dropping to the ground. Sakura blushed when Hinata grinned at her and Naruto waggled his eyebrows at her. He dropped behind the Uchiha, making the sound and motions of a whip. His actions were met by a double serving of The Uchiha Glare.

"Hinata-chan," Sakura whispered once Kyo was given to Sasuke. "I need your help. Come with me."

"Oi! Where do you think you're going?" Naruto shouted, adjusting the sleeping girl in his arms.

"Girl stuff," Sakura said, causing both males to blush. "We'll be back soon."

"Why do you need my help for… girl stuff?" Hinata asked, a slight blush adorned on her cheeks.

"Well, it's not exactly that kind of girl stuff," Sakura said with a mischievous smile. "But I do need help that only a girl can give."

"Um, okay. What can I do?" Hinata asked, scratching the back of her head.

Sakura lifted Sasuke's sweater over her head, setting it to hang on a branch. She then turned to Hinata.

"Take off the bandages."

* * *

Sasuke sensed a presence before him. He was leaning up against a tree, half of his back was on the ground, the upper half leaning on the bark of the large oak. His arms were crossed, leaning against his legs that were bent upwards at the knee. 

Sasuke's onyx eyes opened and he arched a brow at what he saw. "What did you _do_?" he asked.

Delighted eyes sparkled as their owner grinned. "Look, I'm just like Naruto! I wanted to make my eyes red like yours, but I didn't know how to draw that with mud…"

"Oi, dobe," Sasuke said loudly. "Come see this."

Naruto walked over and grinned, ruffling Kyo's hair. "Like the look!" he said before returning to the kunai he was cleaning.

Painted on Kyo's face with mud were six lines, three on each side, identical to Naruto's. He grinned, trying to look at the lines on his face, only to grow cross-eyed and would've fallen over if it weren't for Sasuke, who managed to catch the boy.

Hinata pushed past a tree branch, not even noticing Kyo's new face marks. She went straight to Sasuke, her expression focused and determined, nothing like her normal facial expressions.

"Where is Sakura-chan's pack?" she asked with an anxious voice.

Sasuke and Naruto gaped. They'd never seen Hinata so… forward. Sasuke looked over at Naruto before the question fully registered in his mind.

He grabbed the backpack, pulling it over. "Right here. What do you want?" he asked.

Hinata grabbed the bag from him. "Something of Sakura's," she answered. Naruto smiled as Sasuke watched Hinata dig through the pack. She finally realized that Naruto and Sasuke were watching her, and flushed as she looked down into the bag. The boys were confused, what was with her major mood swings?

Hinata looked from Sasuke to Naruto then back to the bag again, and quickly pulled her hand out. Naruto missed what was in her hand, for she dove it into her pocket quickly, but Sasuke managed to see what it was. His cheeks tinted red as Hinata rushed back into the trees.

"What was it?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke flushed slightly, but then closed his eyes, deciding not to answer the blonde. Naruto shrugged, figuring his friend hadn't seen either. He walked back to his kunai and forgot about the matter.

Sasuke, however, couldn't erase it from his mind. All he could picture was the object Hinata grabbed for Sakura- a bra.

A black, lacy bra.

* * *

The Uchiha was so busy trying to get images of Sakura wearing only that bra and matching panties out of his head that he didn't notice at first when his companions returned. 

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura's light voice said as she shook his shoulder. "Let's go."

Sasuke noticed how she blushed slightly as his hard onyx eyes met her lustrous emerald ones.

Naruto and Sasuke all but dropped their jaws as Sakura picked up her backpack and not only put it on her own back, but then she picked up Kyo as well! Both boys shook their heads at once. What was going on with these girls?

"How did… I mean… whaa?" Sasuke found that his thoughts were to the same context as what Naruto said.

"Sakura," he said. "What did you-"

"I'm healed," the kunoichi explained like it was nothing.

"But, how did-"

"Hinata-chan helped me remove the bandages, then she guided my hands to the kunai wounds. Then I applied the chakra. Spots where I couldn't reach as easily were enforced with Hinata-chan's chakra," she said calmly. "Now let's quit dawdling with your silly questions, I want to get home. And I'm sure Kyo-chan and Hana-chan want to find new parents!"

Kyo and Hana nodded, giving each other glances, which none of their guardians noticed. Little did the four know, but the children already had an idea of just who their new parents were going to be.

Soon Sakura shrieked. Everyone looked at her to see if she was alright, only to find she was grinning and looking forward.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. Sakura jumped up and down, startling a sleeping Kyo.

"It's the path!" she shouted. "We're almost home!" Hinata squealed and started jumping up and down as well. Naruto joined in and let out a loud whoop. Sasuke smirked, but that was about it. He wouldn't begin to let his guard down until Sakura was under the watchful eye of Tsunade and the ANBU.

Sakura and Sasuke woke up Kyo and Hana, setting them on the ground so would be awake to see their home for the first time. Naruto walked up to Hinata.

"So Hinata-chan," he started. "What do you think Neji's reaction will be?"

"When?" Hinata asked.

"When we tell him the news."

"What news?" Sakura shouted.

Naruto grinned. "This morning I asked Hinata-chan to be my girlfriend… AND SHE SAID YES!"

Sakura squealed and jumped up and down, hugging Hinata and Naruto. Sasuke rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe this, the three of them were talking a mile a minute. Sasuke was surprised Hana wasn't getting into all of this… wait a minute, where _was_ Hana?

"Where are the kids?" Sasuke asked, ending his companions' discussion.

"I think I saw them run up ahead," Naruto said. "They're probably already at the gates by now."

"Let's go!" Hinata shouted.

"I can't wait any longer!" Sakura shouted as well. The two nineteen year olds grabbed hands and ran down the path, Sasuke and Naruto following behind.

Sasuke didn't even have to look at Naruto to see the look he was getting. "What?" he snapped.

"Well," Naruto said, tucking his hands behind his head. "I was just thinking…"

"_Oh great_."

"Now that Hinata-chan and I are a couple, I just realized that practically everyone we know is coupling up! Except for you… and Sakura-chan."

"Whatever," Sasuke said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"All I'm saying is, I've seen the way you look at- SAKURA-CHAN!" Sasuke and Naruto stopped in their tracks at what they saw.

Two large men were holding on to Hana and Kyo. Two more had Hinata by the arms. Standing in the middle of the dozens of Sound ninja was Ryuu.

And in his arms was Sakura.

* * *

**A/N: **Aaah cliffies. Don't ya just love 'em? Hahaha I love tormenting you guys. I have to admit, it's a **lot** of fun. 

I have this Monday off of school because of MLK day, so I'll have lots of time to work! You can expect the next up date with in a few days :)

PLEASE REVIEW!! I'M SOOO CLOSE TO BREAKING MY RECORD! (haha I might not be a review whore, but I'm definitely a **record whore**. I LOVE breaking records- _especially _if they're ones **I** made.)


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **So I've been receiving several comments on my quick updates. The answer to that is… I have no idea. Haha I guess I just love you guys so much. And to be honest, I love writing SasuSaku. It's fun to escape the everyday high school drama of my own life and write and read about a world that sounds so exciting. _((Sigh)) _I wish I lived in Konoha!

I have to say that I got one of the greatest reviews from **Heartless Ghost** (or is it Izzy-chan the Disturbing™? Whatever, you know who you are). The third line made me laugh so hard my mom looked at me like I was insane. And I too am a total chocolate whore, so I've decided to dedicate the chapter to you! Here's a bar of chocolate too. :)

* * *

**.:Chapter.14:.**

_Two large men were holding on to Hana and Kyo. Two more had Hinata by the arms. Standing in the middle of the dozens of Sound ninja was Ryuu._

_And in his arms was Sakura._

Sasuke felt the shock hit him like a kunai in the stomach. How could this have happened? They were barely ahead of him and Naruto, just about a mile away from Konoha's front gates.

The Uchiha looked over at Naruto, who didn't look shocked or afraid at all. He looked courageous and… excited? Of course, Naruto always loved fighting tough opponents and proving his power. Seeing the brave look in Sakura's eyes was like someone coming up and slapping him on the face, yelling "Snap out of it man!"

"Sasuke-kun," Hana yelled. "Help!" The man holding her shoved his large hand over her mouth, pressing hard until she started to cry. Sakura glared, struggling to get away from Ryuu without endangering her friends.

"Uchiha Sasuke, we meet again," Ryuu said with a condescending smile. "Although, I must say, I like these circumstances much more than in our other meetings. _Wouldn't you agree, my dear?_"

Sasuke's hands clenched into fists as Ryuu said the last part into Sakura's ear, burying his face into her bubblegum pink hair. Sakura would've elbowed him in the gut, but she was afraid that any move she made towards her captor would result in something happening to Hinata, Hana, or Kyo.

"I'll make you a deal," Ryuu continued. "You can come with me, hime, or you can watch your little friends die a slow and painful death."

Sakura shot a glance at Hinata, but otherwise remained emotionless. There was no way she was going to let Ryuu get to her. She'd dealt with men like this before, it was like all the missions Tsunade had sent her on were preparing her for this day.

Sasuke grinded his teeth, his mind frantically searching for a way to solve this without any of his companions getting injured.

_Kuso, now would be the perfect time for Ino's Shintenshin no Jutsu, _he thought to himself.

**Aa. And we're probably not close enough for anyone to see us here…**

Sasuke sighed, this wasn't going to be easy. If they could get Hana and Kyo free, then Hinata and Sakura would be able to fight back. He elbowed Naruto, then nodded towards the crying children. The blonde nodded, apparently he'd been thinking the same thing.

Naruto thought hard, suddenly remembering something he'd taught Kyo and Hana while Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata had been collecting water one day. He looked forward towards the horizon line and said loudly in a sing-song voice, "WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE AND HAVE A BAD FEELING, THERE'S ONLY ONE THING YOU CAN DO, AND THAT IS **SING**!"

The Sound Ninja burst out into laughter. Sasuke looked at Naruto like he had grown two more heads, while Sakura was trying to figure up what Naruto was up to. Hinata shifted, realizing that it was Saburo and Katsu who had their hands on her. She glared as their hands rubbed on her arms in a suggestive way. She couldn't wait until the kids were free so she could kick these guys' asses.

"You can sing all you want, Blondie," Ryuu said with a smile, "but it's not going to save your little friends."

Naruto looked over at Hana and Kyo, then nodded. Suddenly the two got what he was talking about and smiled.

Naruto nodded again and looked over at Ryuu. _Now for Part II of the plan… _"Hey Ryuu!" he shouted, "Get a look at this! Orioke no jutsu!"

Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata gaped at the blonde. What was he thinking? Several of the Sound Nin had to pinch their noses to hold back the blood that came gushing down from Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. Female Naruto, covered only by the smoke surrounding "her", gave a wink and a smile, blowing a kiss and giggling. More men were drawn in, except for Ryuu who was shouting at his men to snap out of it.

Meanwhile, Kyo and Hana nodded at each other, then elbowed their captors just under their rib cages. In unison they stomped on their feet, then brought their small fists up to their nose when the men bent over in pain. Lastly, they brought their fists back down, smashing into the men's groins.

Naruto and Sasuke noticed this, as well as Hinata. She grinned at the children, then nodded her head in the direction of Konoha. The two children hid back in the woods while Hinata used her Gentle Fist on Saburo and Katsu. Once the two were knocked out, she ran over towards Kyo and Hana. She pointed towards Konoha and Sasuke nodded, watching as the three ran off to get more help.

Naruto turned back to his normal self, grinning at the reaction he got. "Why didn't you tell us that you taught them S.I.N.G.?" Sasuke whispered. (a/n: **S**olar plexus, **I**nstep,** N**ose, **G**roin haha you can thank Miss Congeniality for that little idea.) Naruto smiled, "We'll talk about this later, teme."

Sasuke nodded, returning his attention to the problem at hand. He knew that they'd have to keep the ninjas' attention on them so they wouldn't notice three of their captives were gone.

"So, Ryuu," he started, crossing his arms. "Tsunade-sama said you're some powerful nin who we should be cautious of, yet every time we've seen you, you've used your men to fight for you. I'm starting to wonder if you even are a _nin_ at all."

Ryuu laughed. "You're smart, Uchiha. It is true that I've relied on my men to do the easy tasks, despite their lack of success. That's why I decided I'll just have to take care of you myself.

"I'm taking Sakura back with me, Uchiha. You can either let her come with me the easy way, or I'll just have to kill you all. Either way, Sakura will end up with me, and you'll be all alone- in life or death, however, is your choice." Sakura rolled her eyes, resisting with all of her might to dig her nails into his arm. But she didn't know that Hinata and the children were free, so she tried her best to be compliant for their safety.

"I'd rather die one thousand deaths than let a perverted bastard like you have Sakura," Sasuke said, activating his sharingan. Naruto conjured up a dozen shadow clones and raced towards the Sound nin.

Ryuu smiled. "That can be arranged, I know of several jutsus for bringing back the dead. I have an even better jutsu that I think will be much more useful to me today, however. You see, my clan goes centuries back, back to when dragons roamed the land. My ancestor, also named Ryuu, was studying dragons and their behaviors. He'd been traveling and came across about fifty females, meaning their leader, the male, was somewhere near.

"One thing I'm sure you don't know about dragons is the males have the ability to secrete an acid-like substance. Ryuu found the male and fought against it, he killed it, but first was able collect some of the liquid. He brought it home and his family studied it for years, soon they were able to understand dragons' genetic make up.

"Ryuu was able to make a jutsu to transform into a dragon, but he wanted to reinforce the power. He inserted the liquid intravenously into his own blood stream. His appearance took on that of a dragon and man combined and found his strength was multiplied greatly.

"Only a few per generation are able to get this bloodline trait, and I was lucky enough to be one of them." Ryuu threw Sakura to a man about the size of a tree. "Henka Ryuukasai no Jutsu!" he shouted, making several hand motions.

Naruto and Sasuke watched as Ryuu's teeth turned jagged, his tongue growing long and thin. His skin had a new appearance, it looked scaly and rough. Sakura gasped as she saw Ryuu's eyes, they were a golden yellow, the pupils black vertical slits.

"I'd like to see you try to defeat me, Uchiha," Ryuu said, his voice much raspier. He smirked as Sasuke threw shuriken and kunai at him. Ryuu simply batted them away, the blades not making a mark on his person. Sakura's eyes widened.

Sasuke glared, and decided to try something else. "Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!" Sakura held her breath as she saw the flames engulf Ryuu.

Soon laughter was heard. Sakura gasped as she saw Ryuu walk out of the flames like nothing had happened.

"You don't get it, do you Uchiha?" he asked with a smirk. "This jutsu gives me the qualities of a dragon. My skin is not that of a human, it can withstand flames. It's stronger than armor. There's nothing you can do to me."

Sakura glared, then moved to knock the man holding her out. He knew what she was about to do, however, and placed chakra binds around her wrists before she could do anything. Sakura groaned as he tightened his grip on her.

_They'd better get here soon, _she mumbled in her mind. _I need to help Sasuke-kun. There's no way he can defeat Ryuu by himself. I don't even know if anyone in Konoha can defeat him if his skin is as strong as metal and can withstand fire!_

"But this isn't the only trait I get from a dragon," Ryuu said, his smirk widening. He puffed up his chest and suddenly long flames came out of his mouth. Sasuke quickly dodged out of the way, barely having enough time to push Naruto away from the flames since he was too busy in hand-to-hand combat with a Sound nin to notice.

Sakura lifted her foot up and jolted it back into the man's knee. He groaned and shoved her into the ground. "I oughta snap your little neck," he growled. He moved closer, bringing his hands towards Sakura's neck.

"Too slow!" Sakura shouted, lifting her hands up. Before the nin could even realize what she was doing, a katana landed in the kunoichi's hands and was thrust into his chest.

"Looks like we got here just in time," Tenten said with a grin as she dropped to the ground. Sakura smiled back, seeing most of Konoha's ninja fighting with Sound nin.

"Your friends explained all that they know," Tsunade said when she came up to the two girls. "I want to know what's been going on since."

"Long story short, Ryuu's jutsu turns him into a half dragon. His skin is like armor and he isn't affected by fire, but he can blow it. I'm sure he's as strong as a dragon, but that's all that I know. It's going to take a miracle for us to be able to defeat him," Sakura said quickly. "Help me up and get these bindings off of me. I want to help."

Tenten nodded, but before she could even take a step forward, Sakura was thrown over someone's shoulder and whisked into the forest. She looked down, recognizing the owner's clothing.

"Ryuu!" she shouted. "This is enough! Why don't you just go home and leave Konoha in peace!"

He stopped once they got to a clearing and set her down. "I'm not leaving unless you're with me."

* * *

"Where did Sakura go?" Tsunade shouted as she came up to Tenten, Naruto, and Hinata. Sasuke shot past them, disappearing into the forest. 

"Ryuu's got her," Naruto said. "He won't quit until he has Sakura-chan for good."

"Or he's dead," Tenten said.

"What if the curse acts up?" Hinata asked. "Sakura-chan won't be able to get through to Sasuke if Ryuu is in her way."

Naruto shook his head. "When teme killed Orochimaru, the curse mark stayed, but the actual curse died along with him. Aside from any damage that may have happened to his internal organs, Sasuke-teme will be fine."

"Come on," Tenten said, pulling out her medley of weapons. "We've got some Sound ass to kick."

The shinobi all smiled, then parted ways. Apparently, one of the Sound ninja managed to get back to Sound and report the battle. Now all of the Sound nin were making their way to fight against Konoha.

* * *

Sasuke tree-hopped through the forest with lightening speed. His sharingan eyes searched for any signs of Sakura or Ryuu's chakra, but still had yet to find them. 

_This has gone on for too long, _he said to himself. _This is it. This time only one of us will come out alive._

He saw the faint sign of chakra ahead and soon heard voices. Sasuke knew it had to be Sakura and Ryuu.

"…please stop this, Ryuu. You know I'm not going to go with you. All this is doing is causing a war that neither of our villages need."

"I don't care," Ryuu said. "I want you. I don't care who dies, I'll do everything I have to until you're mine."

"She's _never_ going to be yours, Ryuu," a voice said, stepping out into the clearing. "She may be your prisoner, but she'll never give you her heart. It's already been taken."

"Sasuke-kun!"

Ryuu laughed. "Oh really? By who?"

"Me."

Ryuu snorted. "Cocky boy. Why would Sakura love _you_? You're a traitor to Konoha. You left her for that idiot Orochimaru, your time is up."

"That's what you think." And with that, the two ran towards each other. Sakura screamed for them to stop and cringed as she watched the hand-to-hand combat. Even though Ryuu's strength had been enforced with that of a dragon, Sasuke was still very powerful.

Several minutes later, the Godaime, Kakashi, the former Rookie Nine, and Neji and Tenten made their way into the forest to see if they could help Sasuke. When the finally found the three, Kakashi suggested they wait.

"Why?" Naruto asked with a glare. He wanted to get in there and help kick Ryuu's dragon-scaled ass!

"This is different than any ordinary battle," Kakashi said.

"I don't get it," Ino whispered.

"This kind of battle isn't very common anymore," Neji explained like he was explaining how to breathe. "Uchiha and Ryuu are fighting for Sakura. The winner gets Sakura."

"And the loser…?"

Tenten ran a finger along her neck, under her chin.

"It's a fight to the death," the Godaime said. Ino and Hinata gulped and looked back to the fight. Sasuke wasn't fairing too well, he was bruised and bloody, but he wasn't winded yet. Ryuu was sweating madly, but there were few bruises or scratches on him. He blew more fire at the Uchiha, who dropped to the ground and rolled.

_I cant take much more of this hand-to-hand combat, _he told himself. _It's hardly doing anything to Ryuu. I need to think of something and fast._

"I read in a book that dragons had amazing stamina," Tenten whispered suddenly. "I hope Sasuke hasn't gotten tired yet, or we'll be in big trouble."

"If Sasuke can't beat Ryuu, how are _we_ supposed to?" Shikamaru asked with a groan.

"I have an idea!" Tenten said with a snap. She masked her chakra and ran as quickly as she could to where Sakura was sitting.

"Sakura-chan!" she whispered, causing the pink-haired girl to jump.

"Tenten-chan?" Tenten quickly crawled over to her. "What are you doing here?"

Tenten slid her hand over Sakura's mouth. "Everyone's over there. We can't do anything to help Sasuke, this is up to him. I remember reading once that while dragon's scales are almost stronger than metal, they have one soft spot- I'm thinking that Ryuu probably has that same soft spot.

"Now dragons normally stood on all fours, so when they inhaled to breathe fire, they exposed their chest. Because Ryuu is only on two legs, this should be easier. There's a soft spot on his chest, right under his sternum should do the trick. Here," she said, holding out a long kunai. "Give this to Sasuke, it's big enough to penetrate through. If it doesn't kill him, it will definitely weaken Ryuu."

Sakura nodded, and before she could ask Tenten to remove the chakra binds on her wrists, the brunette was gone. Sakura sighed. She'd really hoped she would be able to battle against Ryuu.

Ryuu stuck out his chest, then blew fire. Sakura watched this, because Ryuu's shirt had been burned off, she could see how the armor-like scales seemed to move around a spot just under his sternum. The observant girl noted how cautious of that spot he was. Ryuu protected it above all odds. She nodded, she knew that had to be the soft spot.

Sasuke didn't have time to jump to the side, so he dropped to the ground. He grabbed a large clump of dirt and flung it into Ryuu's mouth, causing the dragon man to choke on it. The fire that had yet to be released was caught in his chest and it burned intensely. Ryuu growled in pain, desperately trying to remove all the dirt.

Sakura quickly called Sasuke over and explained what Tenten had said, then handed him the kunai. Sasuke didn't have time to ask any questions, for the next thing he knew, Sakura had ducked the two of them down and there was flame above them.

The tree Sakura was leaning against started tipping forward and because of his weakened state, it took all of Sasuke's might to keep it off of Sakura. She quickly rolled out of the way and Sasuke let the tree drop with a thud, the back of his shirt now torn. Annoyed with the garment, he settled for ripping the shirt off and throwing it aside.

Sakura gasped at all the blood and bruises that the shirt had hidden. She prayed with all her heart to Kami-sama to let Sasuke live.

Ryuu puffed out his chest and before Sasuke had a chance to throw the kunai, more flames came at him. Sasuke dropped to the ground, readying the kunai, yet still keeping it hidden.

Ryuu smirked. "Is this all you've got? I can't believe you're slowing down _already! _You're more pathetic than I thought, Uchiha." He puffed out his chest again, and Sasuke saw his chance. He sent all the chakra he had left to his hand. With a flick of the wrist, the kunai was shot into the air.

* * *

**A/N: **OMGEEEEEEE! I'm such a bitch! I can't believe I did that! -laughs maniacally- Heheh I guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens! 

Please review! I'm soooo close to breaking my record. Everyone who reviews gets a life-size cut out of the Naruto character of their choice! Hehe I picked Sasuke Ü (haha isn't that lil smiley guy cute?!)

_Please forgive me if any of the action was corny or lame… like I've said before, I'm not very good at it, but I try…_

PS: The defense tactic S.I.N.G. was from the movie _Miss Congeniality_ and most of the information about dragons was from the movie _Reign of Fire_ (I don't know if it's true or just for the point of the movie, but it sounded real enough to me so I decided to use it.) I own neither of these movies.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Ok, so some stinker decided to review **every** chapter of Summer Camp, meaning it now has a grand total of **197** reviews. And MI:CBB has **184**- do you know what this means?? It means that everyone must review! This story is on sooo many favorites lists and story alerts. That means that some of you aren't reviewing! Come on everyone! We have a record to break here! It's practically a life and death situation… cuz… um, if you all don't review, I'll… I'll kill off one of the main characters! Yeah, so ha! So you'd better review and help break my record.

**Edited on 1/17 due to a minor error... not really noticable so you don't have to worry about re-reading anything.**

* * *

**.:Chapter.Fifteen:.**

_Ryuu smirked. "Is this all you've got? I can't believe you're slowing down already! You're more pathetic than I thought, Uchiha." He puffed out his chest again, and Sasuke saw his chance. He sent all the chakra he had left to his hand. With a flick of the wrist, the kunai was shot into the air._

Time seemed to be moving in slow motion. Sakura took a deep breath in and held it, gulping slowly. No one moved, no one blinked, no one breathed.

Ryuu's eyes widened as he saw the kunai speeding towards him. He opened his mouth in a last attempt and spat out the acid-like substance at Sasuke. The Uchiha groaned from the sting of it hitting his eyes, but otherwise did nothing.

Ryuu fell backwards and closed his eyes, feeling searing pain in the middle of his chest. He looked down, seeing the kunai sticking out of it. He lay his head back down, feeling his breathing grow heavier and the world starting to blacken.

Everyone ran over, surrounding the two men. Sakura raced to Sasuke's side and helped him up. He removed the chakra binds on her wrists, then leaned against the kunoichi's body to keep him up. He was so tired he could hardly hold himself up, but he refused to close his eyes until he was positive Ryuu was dead.

Finally Ryuu's chest stopped rising. Kakashi cautiously felt for a pulse and nodded. Sakura burst into tears and cheered. Naruto whooped and gave Hinata a big hug, not caring that Neji glared at him.

"It's finally over," Sakura whispered.

"What I don't get is, how did one lousy kunai kill him? I mean sure it was big, but seriously, I thought it was gonna take like a black hole to kill this guy," Ino said.

All eyes went to Tenten, who flushed. "What? So I may have dipped it in some poison before I gave it to Sakura-chan… big deal…"

Sakura laughed, hugging Sasuke again. He smiled up at her before falling unconscious.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" a young voice called. Sakura looked up from her seat in the hospital waiting room to see Hana and Kyo running towards her, followed by Tsunade. 

The Godaime smiled as she watched Sakura interact with the children. They climbed onto Sakura's lap and she kissed each of them. Each clutched onto their toy, relaxing against her body.

"Hinata explained to me how you found them," Tsunade said to her apprentice as she took a seat next to her. "You two are very brave."

Kyo and Hana grinned up at her. Sakura nodded and said, "Kyo will be old enough to begin at the academy and Hana is a fast learner. If she gets a good teacher, she'll catch up with her peers in no time."

"Do you both want to be ninja?" Tsunade asked.

"Hai!" they shouted at once. "I want to be like Sakura-chan!" "And I wanna be like Sasuke!"

The blonde woman laughed. "I'll have the paper work drawn up. You'll both start next fall. I'll make sure Hana will have the training she's missed; you'll be caught up to everyone by the time you start."

"What do you say to Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

"Arigatou, Tsunade-sama!" the children shouted in unison, hopping off of Sakura's lap and hugging the blonde.

"Sakura-san," a black haired woman said. "Sasuke-san can go now. He's in room 103."

"Arigatou, Cho-san," Sakura said, taking Hana and Kyo by the hand. "Naruto, Hinata-chan, wake up! We're going to get Sasuke-kun."

The couple sleeping on the couch jumped up and followed the trio down the hall. Sakura smiled as she noticed they were holding hands. After several minutes, they reached Sasuke's room.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hana shouted, shoving the door open. Sasuke was sitting on a hospital bed, pulling his navy sweater on. Sakura felt her stomach do a back flip as she got a glance of his tense abs.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, sitting down next to him.

Sasuke shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm fine," he grunted.

"He's still tired and a bit sore," the nurse named Cho said as she walked in. Sakura laughed as Sasuke scowled. "But he's good to go."

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and lead the group out of the hospital. She lead them to the Hokage Tower, which greatly amused Hana and Kyo.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura said, knocking on her door.

"Aa. Come in, Sakura," the Godaime called.

The group walked into her office, Hana and Kyo immediately running around and observing all the little trinkets in the office.

"I'd like a report by Thursday," Tsunade said. "Since this mission turned out longer than expected… and ended up quite differently than expected." Sakura smiled softly.

"About the children," the Godaime continued. "They will stay at the hospital for the night. I want to see that they've gotten all their shots and make sure they're properly nourished. I understand that they've been living on the streets for a while."

"Aa," Sakura said with a nod. "Sasuke-kun and I found them wearing burlap sacs. We bought them new clothes and toys."

Tsunade smiled. "Quite the parents aren't we now? Speaking of, I'll look through files tonight to see if I can find suitable parents for the two. We'll make sure they don't get split up, due to their past experiences.

"Hana, Kyo," she called. The two immediately ran up to the woman's desk. "You're going to come with me. We want to make sure you two are healthy, and then you can help me find someone to be your parents, how does that sound?"

The children nodded vigorously. "Can we visit Sakura-chan, and Hinata-chan, and Naruto, and Sasuke tomorrow?"

"Of course," Hinata said.

"Alright, we'll get going now," Sakura said. She hugged Hana and Kyo goodbye, as did Hinata. Naruto gave the two high fives and much to everyone's surprise, they each hugged one of Sasuke's legs.

Sakura lead the flabbergasted Uchiha out of the Hokage Tower, Hinata and Naruto following behind. Sakura rubbed her arms, forgetting that she was wearing Sasuke's sweater.

"Oh my! I forgot about this, come with me to my apartment, Sasuke-kun, and I'll change into… oh… I forgot that I sold my apartment…"

"Give it to me later tonight," Sasuke said, his eyes not moving from their gaze ahead.

"Later… tonight…?"

"Aa. After dinner." Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata all stopped moving. Three pairs of eyes widened, while one blinked slowly.

"D-Dinner?" Sakura repeated in a whisper. "You mean… like a- a _date_?"

"Pick her up at Ino-chan's apartment at seven," Hinata said, grabbing Sakura's hand. "Come on, Sakura-chan, we've got to get ready!"

Sasuke and Naruto watched as the two ran over to Ino and Tenten. After about ten seconds the two screamed, looked over at the Uchiha in question, and then all four ran over to Ino's house, leaving a confused Shikamaru and Neji.

Sasuke sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets, and then jumped as he looked at Naruto, who was standing there with squinty eyes and a big grin. "What?" he snapped, walking past the blonde.

"Someone's in love."

"Shut up."

"Looooove!"

"You don't know anything."

"_Loooooooooooove!"_

"You're an idiot."

"SASUKE-TEME AND SAKURA-CHAN, SITTIN' IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke hissed, whirling around. "Shut up already!"

"FIRST COMES **LOVE**, THEN COMES **MARRIAGE**, THEN COMES A **BABY** IN THE BABY CARRIAGE- ACK!"

Sasuke huffed down the street, walking away from the blonde who was shoved into a tree.

* * *

"Sakura-chan, you look _beautiful!_" 

"Sasuke wont know what hit him!"

"Ne, you should wear these earrings instead, they make your skin glow."

"Okay, I think she's done."

Sakura turned around to face Ino's vanity mirror and gasped. She had never felt so beautiful. Sakura was wearing a spaghetti strapped sea foam green dress that went down to her knees, one that made her eyes shine brighter than ever. Across the waist of the dress was a black silk ribbon, tied in a bow a few inches to the left of her navel. Hinata pulled Sakura's hair back in a messy bun, with three frangipani resting there. They were pink and white, the center hinting at green.

Sakura's black heels clapped against the hardwood floor of Ino's bedroom. She walked over to the full length mirror, looking herself up and down. Around Sakura's neck was a simple black and green necklace, with matching earrings. Her makeup was done simply, emphasizing her already brilliant eyes.

Glossy pink lips smiled as Sakura turned back to her friends, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't know how to thank you," she whispered.

"Aw, Sakura-chan!" Tenten and Hinata said at the same time, enveloping the girl in a hug.

"No, Sakura-chan, don't cry! You'll ruin your make up!" Ino shouted, running towards the girl with an eyeliner brush. "Ah! Look, now your nose is turning red! Look what you've done!"

The door knocked and the four girls immediately stopped what they were doing, looking at the clock.

"Six-fifty-nine!" Ino shouted. "He's early!" She sweat dropped as the clock suddenly read 7:00.

Sakura took a deep breath, smoothing out her dress.

"Oi, Hinata! Uchiha's here… for Sakura?"

"Hai, Neji-kun! Be a dear and sit with him! Sakura-chan will be down in a minute!" Tenten shouted to her boyfriend. The girls laughed as they heard him groan.

"Arigatou, Neji-kun! Aishiteru!"

"Hai, Hai…"

Hinata handed Sakura her black sweater, following Ino and Tenten out the door. Hinata stayed with Sakura at the top of the stairs while Ino and Tenten met the boys down stairs.

"Wow, Sasuke, you look _really_ good!" they heard Tenten say. "If I wasn't already dating Neji-kun I might've said to forget Saku-chan and go out with _me_!"

Hinata giggled as she heard the brunette yelp and then suddenly was dragged upstairs by a scowling Neji. Tenten winked at her friends, then gestured to go downstairs.

Hinata lead the way downstairs, holding Sakura's hand. Sakura blushed when she saw Sasuke standing there, hands in his pockets. He was wearing his usual color scheme- black pants, black sweater, black leather jacket, but to Sakura, he'd never looked so handsome.

"Kombawa," Sakura said quietly as she stepped in front of the Uchiha.

"Kombawa," Sasuke replied, nodding. Ino looked from Sasuke to Sakura to Sasuke and frowned at the lack of speaking.

"Sasuke," she said, elbowing him. "Doesn't Sakura-chan look beautiful? Eh, _Sasuke_?"

Sasuke snorted at Ino, but then nodded at Sakura and mumbled something. Ino grinned and scooted closer.

"I'm sorry, what was that, Sasuke? I couldn't quite hear you…"

Sasuke glared at Ino and instead looked over at Sakura. She blushed as she saw his onyx eyes move up and down her body. At last, he took a step forward. "Ready to go?" he asked.

Sakura smiled and nodded, waving goodbye to Ino and Hinata as she followed Sasuke out the door.

The two walked to the restaurant in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Sasuke glared at the old women whispering "how _kawaii_ the couple is!" and the young men who checked Sakura out. Sakura blushed when Sasuke held the door open for her, who would've thought the cold Uchiha could be such a gentleman!

They were seated and started chatting comfortably. Another surprise; Sasuke actually spoke in sentences! He could make Sakura laugh and she often made him smile… or at least smirk.

Sasuke paid the bill and escorted Sakura outside, where they walked around under the stars. When Sakura shivered, Sasuke took off his jacket and gave it to her. He allowed her to hold his hand while they walked down the streets.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"Since you don't have an apartment anymore, we're going to my place."

"O-Oh…"

Sasuke lead them to the Uchiha district, then into his large house. He left Sakura in the living room while he went to the kitchen to make tea. Sakura smiled up at him when he returned and sat down next to her on the large leather couch.

They sat in a peaceful silence for about fifteen minutes, but Sakura had several questions running through her head, and she couldn't keep them in any longer.

"Sasuke-kun?"

A simple glance of onyx eyes told her to continue.

"Ano… why did you… um, ask m-me out?"

Sasuke sighed and turned towards her. "You want the truth?"

Sakura blinked. She'd expected him to shrug and say "Why not?" or just give her a "Hn", but definitely did not expect this! "H- Hai…"

"For the past few months I'd been questioning my feelings for you. I kept putting these possessive and jealous thoughts in the back of my mind, and when I found out that you were going to Ryuu, I thought it was for the best- so that way I could forget those feelings about you.

"But then I realized, I didn't want to forget them. I'd never felt so possessive of you, and I knew I was the only one who would have you."

"S-So, what _are_ your feelings for me?"

It took Sasuke several minutes to answer this question. Sakura knew that he probably didn't know himself.

"I… I'm not really sure, but I do know that I care about you- a lot." Sakura's heart was pounding in her chest. She was sure that Sasuke could hear it now.

Sakura swallowed hard and nodded. "O-Okay… so, um… what should we do mmmph!"

Sasuke effectively shut the girl up by pressing his lips against hers.

* * *

**A/N: **Muhahahaha! I'm on a cliffy role! They're soooooo much fun! 

Now, remember what I said before: if we don't start breaking records, one of the main characters is gonna get killed off! It's really not that hard to press that little periwinkle button that says Go!

Please review and make my day!!


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **YAAAAAAAAY! My record has been broken!! And I have the **perfect** present for everyone who reviewed. It came to me while I was thinking about chocolate bunnies… yes I know, how random. Ok, ready? Here it is: everyone who reviewed gets a _life-size_, **chocolate** Naruto character of their choice! Can you say yummy?!

Oh yeah, and I'm sorry for the long update, I've been super busy with end of term stuff at school, and school play auditions.

_Note to Random Reader Person: No, Sakura didn't really give Sasuke's sweater back, but I'm sure he has more than one black sweater, knowing him lol_

* * *

**.:Chapter.Sixteen:.**

"_S-So, what are your feelings for me?"_

_It took Sasuke several minutes to answer this question. Sakura knew that he probably didn't know himself._

"_I… I'm not really sure, but I do know that I care about you- a lot." Sakura's heart was pounding in her chest. She was sure that Sasuke could hear it now._

_Sakura swallowed hard and nodded. "O-Okay… so, um… what should we mmmph!"_

_Sasuke effectively shut the girl up by pressing his lips against hers._

Sakura's emerald eye's widened as she felt Sasuke's large hands grab her by the waist and pull her closer. Finally she managed to shake past the surprise and close her eyes, moaning as Sasuke's tongue entered her mouth. Sasuke smirked when Sakura finally responded, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He growled low in his throat as her slender fingers made their way into his hair, massaging and tugging on the spiky black hairs. Sasuke's hands roamed up and down the kunoichi's back, earning a loud moan from light pink lips. They separated for air and Sakura looked up at Sasuke with surprised eyes.

His cocky smirk gave Sakura a new found confidence. A mischievous smirk adorned on her pretty face, Sasuke watched as the pink-haired girl slid onto his lap so she was straddling him before their lips met again. Sasuke groaned in pleasure from feeling Sakura's legs on either side of him.

Sasuke pulled away from Sakura's mouth, moving down to her smooth neck. Sakura gulped air in deep breaths as she tired to control the moans Sasuke's mouth was causing. Her body felt like it was on fire, she'd never felt so alive.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore and pulled Sasuke's head back up to her own, their tongues meeting again and doing another heated dance. Sasuke pulled his hands away from Sakura's back and moved to her front, hastily trying to undo the small buttons of her sweater. Sakura giggled at the frustration the Uchiha got and pushed him away.

Sasuke's heart pounded. Why had she pushed him away? Had he gone too far?

Sakura smiled, she seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Onyx eyes watched as her small hands clasped either side of the sweater, then ripped away, sending buttons flying around the room as they popped out of their place. Sasuke smirked, then grabbed the sweater and flung it into a corner, where it landed on a lamp.

Sakura moaned loudly as she felt Sasuke's cool hands rubbing against her hot skin, his tongue moving to the same rhythm as his hands as they rubbed up and down her arms and back. She wrapped her tongue around his, then tugged at his own black sweater. Sasuke complied to her silent pleas, pulling their heads apart for mere seconds before his own sweater was tossed somewhere, falling into a pile of books.

Again Sasuke moved to her neck, not able to get enough of how delicious it was. Sakura bit her lip and pinched her eyes shut. There was only one man who could make her feel this way, and here he was, sitting beneath her. She was in heaven and wished these feelings would never end.

Sasuke's hands moved once more, to the zipper at the back of the dress, but Sakura held onto his hands before they could pull at the metal. Sasuke looked up at her, again afraid he'd gone too far.

Sakura smirked and rested her forehead against his. "Not here," she whispered.

It took the Uchiha's lust filled mind to realize that two emerald eyes were darting to the stairs that lead upstairs. Sasuke smirked, and quickly stood up. Sakura kept her legs wrapped around his waist as Sasuke held her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck once again and kissed the Uchiha's neck as he walked up the stairs.

Sakura yelped as Sasuke nearly tripped up the stairs. _Damn it, I can't think straight with her hands rubbing my neck and her legs wrapped around me…_

Sasuke stopped quickly and slammed Sakura into the hallway wall. He undid the silk ribbon around her waist, tossing it to the ground quickly. His mouth went to hers again and their tongues explored every space in each other's mouth.

"Mou, Sasuke-kun…" Sakura panted. Sasuke nodded, walking towards the master bedroom. They both wished it wasn't the room _all_ the way down the hall…

Sasuke kicked the door open, tossing Sakura onto his bed. Not even bothering to shut the door or turn on the lights, he crawled on top of her. He was tired of being on the bottom, after all, this _is _Uchiha Sasuke we're talking about.

Sakura's hands rubbed Sasuke's strong abs, moved up to his broad chest, then back down his muscular arms. She pulled him as closely as possible, unable to get enough of the feelings he was evoking.

Sasuke slowly blinked his eyes open, seeing Sakura's sea foam green ones looking back up at him. She gave him that turbulent grin that always caused his heart to skip a beat. Sasuke kissed her passionately on the lips, then pulled the kunoichi up onto his lap so he could unzip her dress more easily.

The pretty dress was flung onto Sasuke's desk without a care. Sasuke's stomach did a somersault as he saw Sakura sitting on his lap, dressed only in nylons and black lacy panties and strapless bra. He recognized the bra… it was the one Hinata had grabbed earlier, although now the straps were missing.

Sakura flushed a deep red. Sasuke was sitting there, staring at her breasts like he was studying them for an anatomy exam. She nervously shifted and then Sasuke snapped out of his trance-like stare, realizing that they both knew what he was doing. Instead of going through the trouble of explaining everything, the clever Uchiha decided to make Sakura just forget the entire incident by distracting her.

He flipped them around again so the pink-haired girl lay below him, moaning as he kissed her neck. Strong hands reached down and pulled the thigh-high nylons off of each beautiful leg. Sakura moaned loudly as she grew even more aroused by the sensual way Sasuke slowly dragged his hand down her leg while he pulled the fabric away.

Sakura pulled Sasuke's head back up so their mouths could mold together again, then she moved her hands down to his pants. Soon Sasuke's hands aided her in undoing the pants and pulling them down where they were thrown under the bed. Sakura blushed, seeing Sasuke clad only in navy blue boxers.

Sasuke pulled Sakura's hair out of the bun and removed the flowers, tossing them onto his bedside table as Sakura's pink hair cascaded onto his pillow. Her pink hair surrounding her glowing face made the kunoichi look like an angel fallen from the heavens. Sasuke went down, his tongue meeting hers as his hands moved to Sakura's back again, freeing her breasts from the bra.

Sakura cried out in pleasure as Sasuke's hot mouth covered her aching breast, her back arching. His left hand moved up and teased the other breast, massaging and rubbing. Sakura's hands dove into the pool of blackness on Sasuke's head, how he kept his ebony locks so soft she would never know.

Sasuke moved his mouth to the other breast, smirking as Sakura let out another cry of pleasure. Her chest heaved up and down as Sasuke went back up to her mouth. Their tongues rolled over each other as Sasuke's hands dragged down Sakura's sides, reaching the band of her panties. Sakura shivered, expecting his fingers to slide the panties off of her and then… She shivered again from the excitement.

But Sasuke's hands never moved past the elastic band. Sakura opened her eyes as he pulled away from the kiss. She sat up, pulling the dark blue sheets up and tucked them under her arms as she bit her lip.

"Sasuke-kun…?"

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair, keeping his gaze to the floor. Sakura opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Sasuke turning around to face her, his obsidian eyes showing her that he wanted to tell her something.

"Sakura, I… I need to wait until I know that the woman I'm with will be the one to restore my clan with me. I need to know that she'll marry me and mother my children. I can't-"

"I understand, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said quietly. As much as it hurt her heart, she knew that he was right. He needed to be sure that the woman he slept with was the one who would restore his clan.

She sighed, moving to get up and find her clothes. Sakura planned to then get dressed as quickly as possible and run to Ino's apartment. There she would bury herself in down blankets and pillows, watch sappy chick flicks while eating ice cream and brownies, and hopefully get over the heartbreak.

"Sakura, what are you doing?"

She froze. What did he mean? Didn't he just say…

"I… I thought you said-"

"I did."

"So then-"

"You don't understand what I'm saying," Sasuke said calmly.

"Yes I do," Sakura said. "You want the woman you sleep with for the first time to be the _only_ one you ever sleep with. You want her to bare your children and be your wife-"

"Aa."

"I get it. I'm going ok, don't worry."

She stopped again when he let out a soft chuckle. "Sakura, you're right. But you still don't understand. I want to sleep with _you_."

"But you cant!" Sakura snapped. "Because you want to only sleep with the woman who'll…" A gasp and wide sea foam green eyes.

Sakura slowly turned around, her gaze meeting Sasuke's. He smiled lightly and suddenly Sakura felt herself tearing up.

"A-Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Aa," Sasuke said, moving so he was next to her. "I want _you_ Sakura. I want _you_ to be the mother of my children. I want _you _to be my wife… Sakura, will you marry me?"

Sakura's heart was beating faster by the second. She flung her arms around Sasuke, her tears hitting his neck as she tucked her face there.

"…Sakura?" He relaxed as he heard a faint giggle.

"We both know my answer."

Sasuke tilted Sakura's face up, hooking his finger under her chin, and looked into her beautiful eyes that shown brightly with happiness. He smirked down at her, then kissed her again.

Within seconds, they were back to their original position. Sakura moaned as Sasuke sucked on her neck, then he tugged off her black panties. Sasuke's hand moved up her smooth thigh, then towards her opening. Sakura braced herself for the pleasure she knew (from stories Tenten had told her about steamy nights with Neji) would come once his fingers were inside of her.

Sakura moaned loudly as Sasuke inserted two fingers inside of her. She kissed Sasuke with a new passion as his tongue moved to the same tempo as his fingers inside of her. She felt something begin to build up inside of her, like a ball of white fire in the pit of her womb.

Sasuke noted how Sakura's head thrashed back and forth and increased his rhythm, his fingers moving more quickly with each thrust. Finally the ball of fire inside of her burst and Sakura moaned loudly as she came. Sasuke pulled his fingers out of her, his hands now braced on either side of Sakura's pink head.

Sakura smiled up at the Uchiha, her foot rubbing his calf. Sasuke watched as she pulled off his boxers, her eyes widening when she saw what was under them. A slight blush on her cheeks, Sakura pulled Sasuke down for another heated kiss. Her stomach did a back flip as she felt Sasuke hard and heavy against her inner thigh.

**Ah! I can't believe this is actually happening! **Inner Sakura shouted suddenly. **This is what we've been waiting for our entire lives! Go on, let him know we're ready!**

Sasuke pulled away from Sakura's mouth, his obsidian eyes looking to her own for permission to go on. He was answered by Sakura positioning her entrance in front of his member, and then pulling him down into a kiss.

Sasuke noted how Sakura braced herself for what was going to come. He kissed her gently as he broke past her hymen. Sakura bit her lip and pinched her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears in. Sasuke caught each tear that slipped past with his lips. Eventually, Sakura opened her eyes, nuzzling Sasuke's nose with her own.

Sasuke's strokes were slow at first, he wanted to make sure all of Sakura's pain was gone before he really got into it. Sakura let out an almost purr of pleasure as she fiercely pulled Sasuke's head down to her own. Her tongue wrapped around his, she tugged at his lip with her teeth, letting Sasuke know that she wanted him to continue.

Sasuke began pumping faster and harder, making Sakura moan and gasp. He too let out several moans and growls of pleasure. Each making the other all the more aroused. Sasuke kissed down Sakura's jaw and back to her succulent neck. Sakura bit her lip to try to suppress a loud moan, but failed to do so, causing Sasuke to smirk against her neck.

He looked up at her, a look of satisfaction from her reaction on his face. Sakura snorted. She arched a pink eyebrow and clenched her inner walls around him. Sasuke grunted and thrust in with all of his might, causing Sakura to cry out in pleasure.

Sakura could feel the ball of white fire forming in her womb again. She was close, but not close enough. She leaned up and sucked on Sasuke's ear lobe.

"Mmm Sasuke-kun…" her voice husky in his ear as she bit the appendage. "Harder, Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke turned and kissed her with a heated passion as he pumped in and out even harder. Sakura felt her self coming close. Just a few more strokes and she'd be there.

And then she felt it. The ball of fire inside her burst and she screamed Sasuke's name into his neck as she came. Sasuke came just after her, his own cry of her name muffled by her shoulder.

Sasuke swiftly flipped them over after pulling himself out of her, and lay back on the pillows. Sakura lay her head down on his broad chest, pulling the blankets up over them. Sasuke's strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. Sakura nuzzled her face in Sasuke's neck, enjoying how his scent of musk and cinnamon filled her senses.

Sasuke closed his eyes, his thumb rubbing Sakura's shoulder tenderly. He was close to drifting off to sleep, when Sakura spoke.

"Sasuke-kun?" she moved so she was now laying on top of him, their faces barely centimeters away.

Onyx eyes blinked open, encouraging her to continue.

Sakura looked down, her gaze resting on Sasuke's chin as she swallowed, trying to think of how she could word what she wanted to say.

"I… um, I just…"

**Come on, girl! You can't back out now! **Inner Sakura cheered on.

Sakura blushed lightly and smiled up at Sasuke. "I want you to know, that I still love you, Sasuke-kun. I always have."

Sasuke's face actually looked surprised! …For about a millisecond. Then it was back to its usual stoicism. He smirked and pecked her on the lips. Sakura smiled brightly, brushing a black lock from Sasuke's face, then lay back down in her comfortable spot on Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke lay there for a long time. How long, he had no idea. But he just lay there, stroking Sakura's soft pink hair, contemplating on what she said to him. And how she didn't seem to mind that he didn't reply in the same kind. But he knew she understood his feelings for her. It was pretty obvious that he cared for her. And if he didn't love her, he doubted he would've asked her to marry him so soon. Sure, he'd always figured it would be Sakura who would restore his clan with him. She was the only female he trusted and cared for.

He just never realized that he'd also fallen in love with her.

"Sakura," Sasuke said suddenly, shaking the sleeping girl lightly. "Sakura."

Slowly, emerald eyes blinked open and looked up at him. "What is it?" she mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

When her eyes met Sasuke's, however, she found herself wide awake. She waited patiently for him to speak his mind. His face betrayed the battle inside his head.

"About what you said earlier…" he began. It took Sakura a moment to remember what she said, then she nodded. "I um… I… er, well I-"

"It's ok, Sasuke-kun, I know what you're trying to say. Take your time, you can tell me when you're ready," Sakura said with a smile before laying back down.

Sasuke blinked. How such a woman had fallen in love with _him_, he did not know. What he did know, however, was that he was damn lucky that it happened, and there was no way he was going to lose her.

"Sakura," he whispered to no one, since Sakura was already back asleep. "I… I love you."

A pair of emerald eyes popped open, and a head of hair shot up. Sasuke looked into teary eyes and smiled. Sakura grinned back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their mouths met again, and soon enough, Sasuke was on top of her again.

Suddenly neither of them were tired anymore.

* * *

Sakura woke up feeling the warm sun on her back. She lifted her head and saw that it was already eight-thirty in the morning. She slowly sat up, pulling the navy sheets up over her chests as she scratched the back of her head. 

It was then that Sakura noticed Sasuke wasn't in bed- he wasn't in the bedroom at all! She was about to shout his name, when she noticed something.

On a chair next to the bed was a pair of flannel pants, a small t-shirt, the flowers from her hair, and a note.

Sakura quickly wrapped the blanket around her body to keep her warm, and tip toed over towards the chair. She brushed the frangipani aside and picked up the note.

_Sakura-_

_I figured you'd want something more comfortable to wear than your dress. Here's a pair of my old pajama pants and the smallest shirt I could find. Find me in the kitchen._

_Sasuke_

Sakura found her black lace panties on a lamp shade. With red cheeks, she delicately pulled them away and pulled them on. After changing into Sasuke's old clothes (she'd had to roll the waistband of the pants several times and they were still too long for her), the kunoichi walked downstairs to where she assumed the kitchen would be.

The smell of eggs and bacon lead her in the right direction. Soon Sakura found the large kitchen, and a certain chicken-haired man standing in front of the stove, adding another slice of bacon to the frying pan.

Sasuke knew she was there before she even fully entered the room.

"Ohayo," he said, keeping his eyes on what he was doing.

"Ohayo," Sakura replied with a smile. She walked over towards him and turned him around.

"Sakura, I need to-" He was cut off by pink lips on top of his. Sasuke left the stove and pushed Sakura to the other side of the kitchen, where he hoisted her up so she was sitting on the counter.

His hands were about to snake up her shirt, when they were interrupted by a loud beeping noise. The two broke apart, covering their ears as they saw the smoke coming from the burnt bacon.

Sakura turned off the stove and quickly dumped the burnt food into the sink. Sasuke fanned the air around the smoke detector until it stopped. He turned around, frowned at the food in the sink, and then turned to Sakura.

"That's what I was trying to say before," he said.

Sakura giggled. "Hey, I can't help it if you're too irresistible. Besides, I'm a good cook too, with the two of us working together, we'll have breakfast ready in minutes."

Sasuke snorted, but allowed Sakura to aid him. They moved together, never bumping into each other or taking something the other needed. Sakura made eggs while Sasuke fried bacon. He smirked as he heard her humming while she worked.

Sakura was right. Within minutes they were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

"Do the clothes fit you well enough?" Sasuke asked after several minutes of silence.

Sakura shrugged. "They'll do. I had to roll the pants several times, though. How old were you when you wore these?"

Sasuke smirked. "I think I was sixteen or seventeen. That t-shirt is something I've had since I was probably eleven or twelve."

Sakura laughed, taking a sip of her orange juice. After breakfast, they again worked simultaneously to wash the dishes. They'd just finished when there was a knock on the door.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said as she peeked out from behind Sasuke. "What are _you_ doing here?"

He smirked as he eyed the random articles of clothing laying around the house. "I could ask you the same question."

Sakura blushed as Sasuke tensed up. "What is it, Kakashi?"

"Tsunade-sama wants the three of us to meet her in her office ASAP." And with that, he was gone.

Sasuke went upstairs to change, while Sakura told him to meet her at Ino's in fifteen minutes.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Sasuke was at Ino's door. Sakura had left her black pants at Ino's house and borrowed a white sweater. She also grabbed the sweater Sasuke had loaned to her and returned it to him.

They walked to the Godaime's office together, but before they went inside, Sasuke stopped. Before Sakura could ask what he was doing, he pulled something out of his pocket. Sakura gasped when she realized what it was.

Sasuke slowly opened the ring box, revealing a gold ring with a large ruby and two diamonds on either side. Sakura nearly fainted.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun," she whispered. "It's beautiful."

"I figured you'd like it." He slid it on her left ring finger and Sakura held it out to watch it shine in the light.

"Come on," Sasuke said. "We shouldn't keep the Godaime waiting any longer."

They walked in, seeing Kakashi standing with Hana and Kyo. Tsunade stood up and smiled at them.

"Sorry we're late, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said.

"Don't worry about it," Tsunade said with a wave of her hand. "It's not important. Take a seat everyone."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi all sat in the three seats in front of Tsunade's desk while Hana and Kyo sat on the floor next to Sasuke and Sakura. The two played with their toys, oblivious to anything else going on.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here," Tsunade began. Sasuke and Sakura nodded. "Well I have good news, and thought you would want to be the first to know."

Tsunade pulled out a file. "Last night, Kakashi and I worked on finding parents for Hana and Kyo. I'm happy to say that we've found the perfect couple."

There was a knock on the door and a man and woman walked in. Tsunade smiled at the couple.

"Ah, right on time."

* * *

**A/N: **No, this is not the ending, there's going to be one more chapter. I'm gonna try to finish it up before the weekend is over. 

(And just so everyone knows, I never was gonna really kill off anyone. Not only do I love all the main characters too much to kill them, but I knew you guys would pull through!)

Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **So, I'm sad to say that this is the final chapter of Mission Impossible: The Cherry Blossom Bride. -tear- I loved hearing from all of you, thanks for your wonderful reviews! I'll miss you all.

I love pen pals, feel free to pm me or get my email!

* * *

**.:Chapter.Seventeen:.**

_Tsunade pulled out a file. "Last night, Kakashi and I worked on finding parents for Hana and Kyo. I'm happy to say that we've found the perfect couple."_

_There was a knock on the door and a man and woman walked in. Tsunade smiled at the couple._

"_Ah, right on time."_

"Everyone, this isHayashi Taiki and Akemi," Tsunade explained as the couple set down a briefcase and bowed.

"Taiki-san," Tsunade continued. "These are the people I was telling you about, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. And this is one of my top Jounin, Hatake Kakashi. Hana and Kyo are over there."

"So, you're the ones who found the children?" Taiki asked.

"Hai," Sakura said. "They saved our lives, actually."

"I take it they're interested in becoming ninja themselves then," Akemi said, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose. She smiled down at the children, tucking a curly ringlet of black hair behind her ear.

"Hai!" the kids shouted at once. "I wanna grow up and be just like Sakura-chan!" Hana shouted.

Sakura's heart filled with pride… and sorrow. She couldn't believe she was giving them up to these people. Sure they seemed nice, your average family, but who would train them to be ninja? Clearly not these two.

The kunoichi observed each individually. Taiki had dark brown hair and looked to be in his mid- to late- forties. He was tall and thinner than a bamboo stalk, and his nose was more prominent than Rock Lee's eye brows. Akemi was a pretty woman, probably in her late- thirties. Her hair was actually a dark violet, but it looked black to the untrained eye. She had dark blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled, her black glasses not hiding that fact. She was taller than Sakura, about average height for a woman her age.

Sakura bit her lip. These two seemed like they'd be perfect parents by the way they interacted with Hana and Kyo. It broke her heart.

Sasuke sensed his fiancée's disappointment and his eyes asked her if she needed to step into the hall for a moment. Sakura blinked back tears and shook her head no. Tsunade and Kakashi spoke for a moment, before Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Sasuke, Sakura, if you'll just excuse us for a moment, we just need to discuss a few things…"

Sakura clenched her jaw shut so she wouldn't burst into tears. She didn't want this. She knew it. She loved those kids and had known it since she lay eyes on them. She didn't want to give them up.

**Well then why are you walking out the damn door? **Inner Sakura shouted.

_I… I don't have a choice. Tsunade-sama's already picked out the Hayashi's as parents. There's nothing I can do… it's too late._

**It's never too late! Remember when you thought it was too late for Sasuke-kun? And now look at yourself, you're his freakin' fiancé!**

Sakura stopped. Her Inner Self had a point. What was wrong with her? She was Haruno Soon to be Uchiha Sakura, damn it! She never gave up on anything! She was a kunoichi who had inhuman strength. If she could handle deadly ninja, she could definitely handle some string-bean man and his purple haired wife!

"No!" Sakura shouted as Sasuke lead the way out the door. She was just about to go into the hall when she spun around.

"Excuse me?" Tsunade said, her eyes saying _You'd better know what you're doing or you'll be in big trouble, missy._

"I said no!" she repeated.

"Sakura, what do you think you're doing?" Sasuke whispered.

"I love those kids!" Sakura cried. "And I'm sorry Hayashi-sans, you seem like a nice couple, really you do, but you cant have them. I'm not giving them up."

"Sakura…" Tsunade said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"No!" Sakura shouted. Hana and Kyo ran over to her and she wrapped her arms around the two of them. "You can't do this, I wont let you."

"Sakura, listen to us-"

"Please, Kakashi-sensei! Don't you do this, too!" She burst into tears, looking up at Sasuke, who was leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets.

"S-Sasuke-kun…" she sniffed. "I love them, Sasuke-kun. I want them to be mine."

"Sakura-san," Akemi started, but was interrupted by Sakura again.

"Sasuke-kun and I are getting married! So I won't be raising them alone, we'll take good care of them. We'll raise them as if I gave birth to them myself," Sakura insisted.

"Sakura!" Tsunade snapped. "Listen to me." Sakura sniffed, wiping her eyes, and nodded. Hana and Kyo looked up at her and she kissed each of their heads.

"I guess I forgot to tell you during the introductions," the Godaime said calmly. "The Hayashi's work for the Konoha Adoption Agency."

"N-Nani…?"

"They're not the ones we've chosen to be Hana and Kyo's parents, Sakura. You and Sasuke are."

Shocked sea foam green eyes widened as she gasped. Sakura looked from the Hayashi's to Tsunade to Sasuke. He seemed just as surprised as she was.

"Everyone has seen your interactions with the children," Kakashi explained. "And Naruto and Hinata told us about how you parented them during the mission. Hana and Kyo adore both of you and immediately asked if you could be their parents. We wanted to make sure you were together before we were positive, and then Hinata told us of your date last night… and then there was this morning…"

Sakura's cheeks turned a bright red as Tsunade eyed her apprentice mischievously. "Alright, Kakashi, they get it," she said quickly. "All you have to do is sign the papers and they're yours."

Sakura stood up and went to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun?"

Onyx eyes flicked from Hana and Kyo to the adoption papers to Sakura. Sasuke sighed. "Not exactly how I imagined the beginning of my clan to be, but then again, when has anything _ever_ gone how I'd planned?"

Sakura squealed and hugged her fiancé, kissing him square on the lips before grabbing his hand and running to Tsunade's desk to sign the paperwork. Sakura and Sasuke each signed their name, then Tsunade did as well.

"Does this mean you're our parents now?" Hana asked. Sakura smiled and nodded, pulling Kyo into her arms as Sasuke lifted Hana into his.

"You're going to live with us in the Uchiha district, because you're Uchihas now. Just like us," Sakura said.

"So we get to call you Kaa-san and Tou-san?" Kyo asked. Sakura nodded and kissed his forehead.

"Aa, because we're your parents, and you're our children. Do you need us for anything else?"

"No, you're free to go. We're just going to finish up some business," Tsunade said, waving goodbye to the two new Uchiha's.

* * *

The four walked down the street, Sakura babbling about painting new bedrooms and buying clothes. It made Sasuke dizzy. 

"Where are we going, Kaa-san?" Hana asked, causing Sakura to grin at her new name.

"We're going to see Uncle Naruto and Auntie Hinata," she replied to her daughter. Sakura grinned up at Sasuke. She was so happy, which made the Uchiha male happy as well.

They finally reached Naruto's apartment, thinking he'd know where his girlfriend was. Sakura knocked on the door, setting Hana down and holding her hand. No one answered, yet they could see the lights were on from the small window next to the door.

Sasuke settled for kicking the door open, causing one of the three hinges to break off. Hana and Kyo looked up at their father adoringly. Sakura kissed his cheek, whispering "My hero."

Hana and Kyo ran around the apartment, jumping on the couch and whapping each other with pillows. Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and lead the way down the hall to Naruto's bedroom.

"He's probably napping," Sakura said as an explanation.

Sasuke nodded and opened the door.

"AAACK!"

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"GOOD KAMI!"

Sakura and Sasuke stared with their mouths hanging open at what they saw. There, on Naruto's bed, was Hinata, who was sitting without her shirt on. Naruto was on top of her, also shirtless. Sakura blushed a deep red as Hinata looked like she wanted to faint.

"Uhm, sorry!" Sakura shouted suddenly. "We uh… didn't expect this to happen… so… my this is awkward!"

"What are you doing here?" Naruto shouted, hiding Hinata behind him.

"We… we well… err…"

"Kaa-san! Tou-san! Why are you screaming?" Kyo asked, running down the hall. Hinata threw a shirt on just as the boy ran into the room.

"Umm… it's nothing Kyo-chan," Sakura said quickly, picking up her son and walking towards the kitchen.

"We'll meet you in the kitchen!" she called to the couple. "Much to talk about!"

Hinata and Naruto glanced at each other once the room was empty, then jumped off of the bed. After making sure they were appropriately dressed, they raced into the kitchen, seeing the kids playing on the floor while Sasuke and Sakura were seated on the couch. Both took in how Sasuke's hand was placed on Sakura's knee, her hand on top of his.

"So, teme, what's this all about?"

"Naruto, don't swear in front of the children!" Sakura scolded.

"Am I losing my hearing, or did Kyo call you Kaa-san and Tou-san?" Hinata asked. Sakura grinned over at Sasuke, then looked at her two friends.

"We adopted them! They're my children!" Sakura shouted.

"_Our_ children," Sasuke corrected. Sakura blushed and nodded.

"_Your_ children?" Naruto repeated. "As in… you two… together?" The two nodded, one more eagerly than the other.

Hinata squeaked. "Are you… are you getting-"

"HAI! WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!" Sakura screamed. She launched off of the couch and the two females jumped up and down screaming and crying. Then they left to call Ino and Tenten over as well.

Sasuke looked over at a grinning Naruto and rolled his eyes. The blonde scooted over to the couch and sat next to his best friend, waggling his eyebrows.

"Heh heh heh, see teme? I told you it was love."

"Tch."

"So… was she good?"

"What?"

"You know… you guys have to repopulate your clan eventually… unless you've already-"

"You're an idiot." Naruto just laughed and leaned back, tucking his hands behind his head all-knowingly.

"Okay," Sakura said as she returned. She scooted in between Naruto and Sasuke, taking her fiancé's hand. "Everyone's calling over to have an engagement/ adoption party!"

Sasuke groaned as Naruto shouted about making some ramen for the party. Sasuke and Sakura went home and dressed the kids up, then Sakura made some snacks to bring over. It was late afternoon by the time the party had begun.

The girls all fawned over Sakura's ring, while the guys lounged on the couch. Hana and Kyo were playing with the new toys everyone had rushed out to buy.

"So, Uchiha, I have to admit I'm surprised," Neji said with a smirk. Sasuke snorted and continued to watch his new children play.

"I'm not," Shikamaru said. "All of Konoha knew they'd hook up some day." Sasuke had to fight to keep the blush from going to his cheeks. _Everyone_ figured it would happen? Well… why did it take _him_ so long?

Naruto was in all his glory, surrounded by plates of food. "I knew they'd be together since the first day we were made a team!" he said with a full mouth.

"Oh you did not," Sakura said as she walked over to them. "Don't forget, you once had a crush on me yourself."

Naruto blushed, looking over at Hinata. The pink-haired kunoichi just laughed as she picked up several of the empty plates.

"What's this? Another batch of ramen?!"

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura walked back to their home with the sleeping children in their arms. They would have to settle for sleeping in a guest room for the night, until their parents were able to buy new furniture and paint. 

Sakura changed them into their pajamas, tucking the two into the queen bed. Each hugged the toy Sasuke had bought them days ago.

Their new mother smiled down proudly at the two of them, kissing each brunette head lovingly. She felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind and she leaned into the strong body of her love.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she whispered. "I'm so happy."

Sasuke rested his head on her shoulder. "Aa," he whispered back.

"Me too."

* * *

**A/N: **Wow corny much? Haha oh well. Sorry if this chapter was kind of bad, it was mostly to tie up loose ends. I would've ended with the first half of this chapter on Chapter 16, but then it started getting too long. 

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Thanks even more for breaking my record… jeez it'll be hard to break next time!

Expect a new story coming out soon!

Until next time,

sTaRbUrSt LiLiEs


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